Russia's Investigative Committee, which is responsible for investigating major crimes, announced on Saturday that 18 people have died from alcohol poisoning in the city of Yekaterinburg.

The investigators discovered that the victims had drunk liquor containing methanol, a poisonous alcohol primarily used for industrial purposes. The probe also found that the victims had purchased the alcohol between October 7-14 from a group of people, two of whom have been detained, according to the investigators.

"As a result, 18 people died from consuming the aforementioned liquid," the committee said in a statement.

The incident follows the opening of an inquiry last week into a suspected mass poisoning linked to illegal alcohol sales in southwest Russia in which 34 died.