At least 10 people have died in Bangladesh after drinking toxic home-brewed alcohol, police said Saturday. The victims, mostly farmers, bought the rice wine from an illegal alcohol shop in the north-eastern district of Sylhet on Thursday and appear to have fallen sick immediately after drinking it, district police chief Shakhawat Hossain told AFP.
"They drank the wine Thursday evening, fell ill and we have now a confirmed death toll of 10, including one woman. At least four more people have been hospitalised and we fear more people may have drunk it," he said. Police said the death toll was high because the victims would have been reluctant to seek medical assistance, fearing repercussions.
Selling or consuming alcohol outside of a small handful of government approved bars is a criminal offence in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. One of the men who sold the toxic rice wine brew has been arrested, and police are searching for several more suspects, Hossain said.
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