AT least 17 people died and 44 people were undergoing treatment in two hospitals following consumption of spurious liquor in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, officials said yesterday.

District magistrate of Barabanki Udai Bhanu Tripathi said 44 patients were undergoing treatment in hospitals at Barabanki and Lucknow.

Police said the victims purchased country-made liquor from an authorized shop of the excise department at Raniganj market in the Ramnagar area of Barabanki district, about 58 km east of Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh.

Health officials said the victims approached hospital on Monday night.

“After consuming the hooch, the villagers complained of losing their vision, nausea,” a health official said. “They also felt problems in breathing.”

Following the deaths, authorities issued an alert about the two brands in question, sold from the authorized excise department shops in the area and across the state.

Excise Minister Jai Pratap Singh said stringent action will be taken against those found guilty of selling spurious liquor.

So far authorities have suspended 10 excise department officials including Barabanki district excise officer, excise inspector, and three head constables.

Opposition parties in the state accused the government of negligence.

In February, a hooch tragedy in India’s northeastern state of Assam claimed over 150 lives, most of whom were tea garden workers at an estate. Prior to that around 100 people died in a similar tragedy in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Spurious alcohol deaths are often reported in India, where people often drink cheap country-made bootleg liquor.

In December 2011, a hooch tragedy killed 172 people in South 24-Parganas district of West Bengal state.

(Xinhua)