10 Dead Through Drinking Hand Sanitiser after Indian Alcohol Ban

10 die drinking hand sanitiser after India bans alcohol sales during lockdown.

The deaths came as the country announced another record surge in daily COVID-19 cases.

Ten men died in a southern Indian state yesterday after consuming alcohol-derived sanitiser, as local liquor shops were closed due to a coronavirus-related lockdown, police said. The deaths in the town of Kurichedu, in Andhra Pradesh, came as India reported another record surge in daily COVID-19 cases, taking the total to 1.64 million.

“Some people who are heavily addicted to alcohol had been consuming hand sanitisers for the high,” Siddharth Kaushal, the top police official in the district where Kurichedu is located, said. “Alcohol is not available because of the lockdown, but hand sanitisers are easily available.”

“Alcohol is not available because of the lockdown, but hand sanitisers are easily available.”

Several other people who had also drunk sanitiser were discharged from hospital, Mr Kaushal said. He added that some of those who died had other health conditions. Family members of the victims told police they had fallen unconscious hours after drinking the hand sanitiser, according to the Hindustan Times.

It is not known exactly how much they had consumed before falling ill. Local media said the victims were between the ages of 25 to 65. India recorded its steepest spike in new coronavirus cases on Saturday with 57,118 new cases in the past 24 hours. The health ministry also reported 764 additional coronavirus-related deaths, taking the total to 36,511.