Hooch tragedy hits Aligarh again: 6 dead, 24 hospitalised

Aligarh: Six people died and 24 more were undergoing treatment after consuming spurious liquor in a village here, days after another hooch tragedy resulted in the death of at least 35 in the district, police said on Thursday. On Wednesday night, some brick kiln labourers fell sick after consuming countrymade liquor dumped in a canal near Rohera village in the Jawan area, they said.

"It appears that some persons involved in the spurious liquor trade dumped their entire stock in the canal fearing a raid," Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani told reporters.

Chief Superintendent of Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College hospital Dr Harris Manzur said six people have died so far, three of whom were brought dead. "Doctors are battling to save the lives of the remaining 24 victims," he said, adding that critically ill patients kept arriving at the hospital throughout Wednesday night.

This is the second hooch tragedy reported in the district in recent days. In the earlier case, at least 35 people died after consuming illicit liquor, while autopsies were conducted on a total of 87 victims. Officials fear some of them may have died of the same cause and many people have suffered eye damage and vision loss. In Wednesday's incident, the brick kiln workers found liquor cartons dumped in the canal.

They started celebrating but were taken ill shortly after consuming the country made brew. An alarm was raised and a police party from the nearby Jawan police station rushed to the spot and took the victims to a hospital. Twenty-seven patients arrived at the hospital till Thursday morning. Three more were brought in later in the day, Manzur said.