At least 143 people have died after toxic bootleg alcohol in India's West Bengal state.
Residents of 12 villages became ill after drinking the alcohol, and ten bootleggers have been arrested.
Dozens more people are being treated in hospital, (photo above)
with fears the death toll could rise.
Many died at home, afraid the police would take action against them.
The bootleg alcohol deaths are becoming a regular thing in India.
Last week, the state of Gujarat introduced a new law making the illegal manufacture and sale of toxic alcohol there punishable by death.
As you can see from the photos there are many lying in the corridors with their saline drips.
There are simply not enough beds for them.
The mortuary is so full of bodies, the dead have been laid on the steps outside. Many died trying to get to this hospital.
Most of the dead were day laborers and rickshaw pullers who worked in the villages.
A district health officer said that methanol, a toxic form of alcohol, had been found in many of the victims who had drunk the bootleg booze, popularly known as “chepti.”
Apparently, the bootleg alcohol was watered down, then pesticides and other chemicals were mixed in to give it flavor.
The liquor is packed in cans and delivered all over the district and other parts of the state in buses and on trains.
Retailers sell sachets after filling them up with the liquor.
