Death toll for India's toxic alcohol tragedy rises to 156
Updated 22:56, 24-Feb-2019
CGTN
["china"]
00:50
The death toll due to the consumption of illicit liquor in India's northeastern state of Assam rose to 156 on Sunday, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing local official. 
At least 200 more people are still hospitalized across Assam, according to Xinhua.
The toxic alcohol was consumed by workers on Thursday evening at the Halmira tea estate in Golaghat district, about 275 km east of Dispur, the capital city of Assam.
The death toll is likely to increase, officials said. 
A man received treatment in a government-run hospital in Golaghat, February 23, 2019./ VCG photo

A man received treatment in a government-run hospital in Golaghat, February 23, 2019./ VCG photo

Health officials say the cause of the deaths, according to the preliminary investigation, seems to be drinking "spurious country-made liquor." Police have registered a case and collected samples of the liquor.
State police said they arrested one man for selling the liquor, and authorities said two excise department officials were suspended for failing to take adequate precautions over the sale of the alcohol.
The deaths came less than two weeks after tainted liquor killed about 100 people in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
(With input from agencies)
(Top image: A paramedic tends to a tea plantation worker, who consumed bootleg liquor, inside a government-run hospital in Golaghat in the northeastern state of Assam, India, February 23, 2019. / VCG photo )
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