By AFP More by this AuthorNew DelhiNine people have died in India from drinking alcohol-based hand sanitiser after liquor shops in their town were closed due to virus restrictions, police said Friday. The group lost consciousness after consuming a "high quantity" of hand sanitiser mixed with water or soda, Siddharth Kaushal, police superintendent for Kurichedu town in Andhra Pradesh state said. The group turned to hand sanitiser "as a substitute" for liquor after supplies were cut off when authorities ordered a lockdown of the town to combat the coronavirus, he added. AdvertisementHundreds of poor people die every year in India due to alcohol poisoning, mostly from consuming cheap hooch. The deaths in Kurichedu occurred shortly before India's coronavirus death toll passed 35,000 on Friday, overtaking that of Italy.

Source: Daily Nation July 31, 2020 22:18 UTC