At least 36 people have died after drinking tainted liquor in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, while more than 60 others are being treated in hospitals, a government spokesman said on Thursday.
Since Wednesday, more than 100 people, suffering from vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea, have required treatment at a hospital in Kalkurichi district, 150 miles by road from the state capital Chennai, the spokesman said.
The state government said it had taken disciplinary action against at least 10 officials, including the district's chief administrator and its police chief.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said in a post on X that 'I am shocked and saddened to hear the news … action has also been taken against officials who failed to stop it'.
Police arrested four people for selling illegal liquor and seized 200 liters of methanol mixed alcoholic drink, the state government said.