Demon drink

Grim story from Siberia, via the BBC:

Fourteen towns in the Irkutsk region of Siberia have declared a state of emergency, amid a dramatic upsurge in mass poisonings caused by fake vodka.

Almost 900 people in the region are in hospital with liver failure, apparently after drinking industrial solvent. . .

In several of the worst-affected regions, Russian officials have seized large quantities of hazardous liquids that authorities suspected were to be sold as alcoholic drinks.

They say the most common substances are de-icers, anti-rust treatments and window-cleaning solutions.

And what passes for "normal" also beggars the imagination:

It is an indication of the scale of Russia's drink problem that during an average month 3,500 people die after drinking such liquids.

Posted by David on October 30, 2006 9:08 PM