Zoom Image
The poisonous drink: bottles of "Mister Sidr" in a supermarket
Photo: Russian Interior Ministry / ITAR-TASS / IMAGO
In Russia, more than 30 people have died from poisoning by a adulterated mixed alcohol drink. This was announced by the Russian Ministry of Health on Tuesday. There are a total of 90 known cases of poisoning in six regions of the country, it said. The Russian Ministry of the Interior announced that the drink is said to contain traces of the life-threatening methyl alcohol.
On Wednesday, several more cases were reported in other regions, as reported by the Russian state news agency Tass. According to the report, the people had drunk an alcoholic mixed drink called "Mister Sidr", which was produced by a company in the Russian city of Samara.
Companies keep mixing cheap industrial alcohol into beverages
According to the Russian consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, more than 37,000 liters of the drink have now been withdrawn from circulation. The entrepreneur responsible for the production was arrested on Monday, according to Russian investigators. The government in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, which borders the Samara region, also ordered the drink to be removed from sale.
In Russia, severe poisoning with alcohol occurs again and again, for example because cheap industrial alcohol is added to drinks. According to the Russian statistics agency Rosstat, around 2020,10 people died from alcohol poisoning in 200, which was 3700 more people than in 2019.
has/dpa