Eight people have died in the Czech Republic after drinking bootleg vodka and rum containing methanol, police said yesterday, in the worst case of fatal alcohol poisoning in the country in 30 years.
About 20 people remain in hospital and police warned that more cases could emerge.
While such serious cases are rare in the central European country of 10.5 million, state and industry officials say that illegal alcohol sales are up and account for 10-20 per cent of the market.
The first victim was taken into hospital last Thursday in the Moravian-Silesian region in the northeast of the country, 350 km east of Prague. The police said seven people had died, while the Czech news agency CTK reported an eighth fatality in the Zlin region. Police have detained a 36-year-old man suspected of being the source of the tainted alcohol.