LUCKNOW, India – At least 10 people died and 23 others were hospitalized in northern India after they consumed methyl alcohol spilled from a tanker, mistaking it for liquor, police said Monday.
The incident occurred Sunday near the town of Faizabad, where a tanker carrying methyl alcohol overturned, said police officer Manoj Tiwari. Some residents of the area, thinking it was liquor, collected it and drank it, Tiwari said.
Three people died in their sleep, while seven others died at a local hospital Monday, Tiwari said.
Another 23 people were being treated in hospital, he said. Seven were in serious condition.
Authorities made appeals over loudspeakers warning residents not to drink the chemical.
Tiwari said many people had collected the chemical in bottles and taken it home.
Faizabad is about 140 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Lucknow, the capital of the impoverished Uttar Pradesh state.
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