27 Die In Pakistan For Drinking Toxic Liquor
MEP: Twenty-seven people, mostly Christians have lost their lives and dozens more fell serious ill after consuming toxic liquor during the Christmas holiday in eastern Pakistan, police said on Tuesday, the latest case of deadly alcohol-poisoning in the conservative Muslim country.
60 people were hospitalized in the town of Toba Tek Singh as their health deteriorated after consuming the alcohol in Mubarakabad Christian Colony, south of Islamabad, according to hospital officials.
“According to latest information, 27 people including 22 Christians and two Muslims were killed after consuming the toxic liquor brewed by the residents in Mubarakabad Basti on Christmas Eve”, local police official Imran Atif told AFP.
It’s the latest case of deadly alcohol poisoning in Pakistan after 11 died in October, in Punjab province.
Alcohol is prohibited in Muslim-majority Pakistan, but Pakistani laws allow non-Muslims to purchase alcohol from licensed shops. Most poor Christians buy homemade liquor – which is more affordable but causes deaths almost every year.
