Image copyright AP Image caption This is the shop where the liquid was allegedly purchased

At least 49 people have died in the Siberian city of Irkutsk after drinking bath essence, Russian authorities say.

The hawthorn-scented liquid was consumed as if it were alcohol, according to Russia's Investigative Committee.

Several others are in a serious condition. Several people have been detained over the deaths and police are removing bottles from shops.

Investigators said a warning that it should not be swallowed was ignored.

The product, called Boyaryshnik (Hawthorn), was found to contain methanol, a toxin found in antifreeze. A state of emergency has been declared in Irkutsk, and Russia's top investigative agency opened an enquiry into the incident.

Police uncovered an illicit workshop where the lotion was being made, and arrested its owners.

Russian media reported that the victims were poor people, aged between 35 and 50, and were not drinking together.

Household products are seen by some as a cheap alternative to alcohol across the former Soviet Union.

Two years of Western economic sanctions have made the situation worse, and analysts say up to 12 million Russians drink cheap surrogate alcohol, including perfume, after shave, anti-freeze and window cleaner.

While poisoning from alcohol is common, this is one of the deadliest incidents in years. This, officials said, was because the ethyl alcohol which was normally present in this product had been replaced by methanol.

A local official told Tass news agency that the liquid came in bottles whose labels said the content was 93% spirit.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman described the case as a "terrible tragedy".

And Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told a cabinet meeting that authorities need to ban such substances quickly. "It's an outrage, and we need to put an end to this," he said in televised remarks.

Last month, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin said medicines and perfumes accounted for up to 20% of the alcohol drunk in the country.</s>MOSCOW — Dozens of people in the Siberian city of Irkutsk died after drinking cheap surrogate alcohol over the weekend, evoking memories of the poverty and social depression that came after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The tragedy was a reminder that while President Vladimir V. Putin may be taking a star turn on the world stage — dominating the war in Syria and alarming European and American leaders who fear the Kremlin is undermining democracy — Russia remains in many respects a struggling country. For all his bravado, Mr. Putin continues to wrestle with domestic economic woes, widening inequality and endemic corruption.

The economy, deeply dependent on oil revenues, was thrown into recession in 2015, after a collapse in oil prices, and is just now emerging tentatively into positive territory. The ensuing collapse of the ruble and Western economic sanctions over the Kremlin’s maneuvers in Crimea and Ukraine have hit living standards hard.

The number of victims in Irkutsk — 49 dead, as of late Monday — evoked earlier periods in Russian history when alcohol was restricted and people turned to substitutes. Under Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who in the mid-1980s ordered shelves emptied of vodka and historic vineyards razed, many Russians drank after-shave, window cleaners and antifreeze.</s>MOSCOW: A Russian city declared a state of emergency Monday after 49 people seeking cheap alcohol died after drinking bath essence containing methanol, a toxic substance used in anti-freeze.

The country’s Investigative Committee, a powerful panel of inquiry, has launched a probe into the deaths in the Siberian city of Irkutsk caused by drinking the liquid, labeled as hawthorn-scented bath essence, and has detained several people.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered his cabinet to “sort out” the problem of selling such alcoholic products not intended for drinking—often labeled as cosmetics—to impoverished alcoholics.

Medvedev called their widespread sale through vending machines, which takes place in cities including Moscow, “an absolute disgrace”.

Dozens of people were taken to hospital in the Siberian city of Irkutsk about 4,200 kilometers (2,600 miles) from Moscow after consuming the toxic substance, investigators said.

An employee of the local prosecutor’s office Alexander Semyonov told Russian agencies that 57 people were known to have consumed the liquid, 49 of whom have died, while the others were in a serious condition.

The official death toll grew by 20 people over the course of a few hours on Monday.

Authorities were still searching places where the essence could have been ingested.

The product was sold for 40 rubles (65 US cents) for a 250 ml (8.5 fluid ounces) bottle.

The victims were between 35 and 50 years old, authorities said.

Irkutsk mayor Dmitry Berdnikov imposed a state of emergency in the city, pledging to “uncover and punish the perpetrators” and inform the public to prevent any further poisoning, the City Hall said on its website.

The city also halted sales of non-potable and uncertified alcohol products in the city, and municipal workers were going door to door and checking places where homeless people were known to gather, it said.

Police uncovered a workshop producing the hawthorn-scented liquid as well as various brands of counterfeit vodka on the outskirts of Irkutsk, detaining its two owners. Five people suspected of selling the substance were also detained.

Authorities said the product contained methanol and carried a label warning that it was unsuitable for consumption, but the mixture was nonetheless “consumed like alcohol”.

Cheap perfumes and facial toners containing alcohol are sold without the same trading restrictions imposed on alcoholic drinks.

Those who buy them to drink are usually the most socially disadvantaged.

Searches were being conducted at markets where the deadly product was being sold, investigators said, and a total of 500 liters (110 UK gallons, 132 US gallons) of the toxic liquid confiscated.

Homemade spirits and household products containing alcohol are popular throughout the former Soviet Union as a cheap alternative to standard brands, but are also blamed for a large number of alcohol-related deaths. AFP</s>Russian health officials say that at least 30 people in a Siberian city have died of alcohol poisoning after drinking a bath lotion.

Tatiana Lebedeva of the local health department said on Monday that 30 people had died of methanol poisoning after consuming the bath lotion containing alcohol in Irkutsk, Russia’s sixth-largest city with a population of 1.1 million. Another 15 people were in grave condition in the city’s hospitals.

Officials said the bottles with the lotion were clearly marked with warnings that they weren’t for internal use. Russia’s top investigative agency has opened a probe into the incident.

Poisonings with surrogate alcohol are a regular occurrence in Russia, but the Irkutsk case was one of the deadliest such incident in years.</s>MOSCOW — A state of emergency has been introduced in the Siberian city of Irkutsk on Monday after at least 33 people died of alcohol poisoning from consuming a bath lotion.

The sale of lotions and tinctures containing alcohol has been on the rise in recent years in Russia as the country's economy has struggled in the face of the sanctions and a slide in oil prices. Poisonings involved cheap surrogate alcohol are a regular occurrence, but the Irkutsk case was the deadliest such incident in years.

While local officials in Irkutsk introduced a state of emergency in a desperate bid to prevent more deaths, Russia's top investigative agency opened a probe into the incident and arrested several people suspected of involvement in the sales of the lotion.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman described the mass poisoning as a "terrible tragedy," adding that the president was being briefed about the situation.

Irkutsk's regional government said the victims had died of methanol poisoning after consuming the bath lotion. The death toll has grown quickly since Sunday, and at least 15 remain hospitalized in a grave condition, officials said.

Officials said the bottles with the lotion were clearly marked with warnings that they weren't for internal use.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told a Cabinet meeting that authorities need to quickly ban such substances. "It's an outrage, and we need to put an end to this," he said in televised remarks.</s>MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top investigative agency says that at least eight people have died of alcohol poisoning in a Siberian city.

The Investigative Committee said Sunday that at least 18 people had got poisoned after consuming a bath lotion containing alcohol in Irkutsk, Russia’s sixth-largest city with a population of 1.1 million. Eight of them have died and the 10 others have been hospitalized in grave condition.

The committee said that the bottles with lotion were marked with warnings that they aren’t for internal use. It said the investigators have opened a probe into the incident.

Poisonings with surrogate alcohol are a regular occurrence in Russia, but the Irkutsk case was one of the deadliest such incidents in years.</s>MOSCOW – The death toll from alcohol poisoning in a Siberian city has risen to at least 49 Monday after the victims consumed a counterfeit bath lotion containing deadly methanol.

Local officials in Irkutsk went house-to-house in search for more victims and introduced a state of emergency Monday, while the Russian government called for tighter regulation of the alcohol market.

The sale of lotions and tinctures containing alcohol has risen in recent years as Russia has plunged into recession under the impact of Western sanctions and a slide in oil prices. Poisonings caused by cheap surrogate alcohol are a regular occurrence, but the Irkutsk case was unprecedented in its scale.

Russia's top investigative agency opened a probe into the incident and arrested several people suspected of involvement in selling the lotion.

Officials found that the lotion contained deadly levels of methanol and antifreeze. Police have found an underground facility that made the counterfeit lotion, and seized 132 gallons of the substance at about 100 shops in Irkutsk, according to the Tass news agency.

Bottles with the lotion were clearly marked with warnings that they weren't for internal use but labels warned that the product contained ethyl alcohol rather than methanol, officials said.

The death toll has been growing quickly since the weekend, and reached 49, local prosecutor Alexander Semyonov said, according to the Interfax news agency. He said that eight others remained hospitalized in grave condition. Officials were checking apartments and other locations in search for more victims.

Authorities in other Russian regions also launched searches for alcohol surrogates.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the mass poisoning as a "terrible tragedy," adding that the president was being briefed about the situation.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told a Cabinet meeting that authorities need to quickly ban such substances, saying their makers have been increasingly competing with legal alcohol producers.

"It's an outrage, and we need to put an end to this," he said in televised remarks.</s>MOSCOW: The death toll from alcohol poisoning in a Siberian city has risen to at least 48 after the victims consumed a bath lotion, prompting local officials to introduce a state of emergency on Monday.

Responding to the tragedy in Irkutsk, the Russian government also called for tighter regulation of the alcohol market.

The sale of lotions and tinctures containing alcohol has been on the rise in recent years as Russia has plunged into recession under the impact of Western sanctions and a slide in oil prices. Poisonings caused by cheap surrogate alcohol are a regular occurrence, but the Irkutsk case was unprecedented in its scale.

While local officials in Irkutsk introduced a state of emergency in a desperate bid to prevent more deaths, and went house—to—house in search for more victims, Russia’s top investigative agency opened a probe into the incident and arrested several people suspected of involvement in the sales of the lotion.

Irkutsk’s regional government said the victims had died of methanol poisoning after consuming the bath lotion. Officials said the bottles with the lotion were clearly marked with warnings that they weren’t for internal use.

The death toll has been growing quickly since the weekend, and reached 48, local prosecutor Stanislav Zubovsky said, according to Russian news agencies. He said that nine others remained hospitalized in grave condition, and officials were checking apartments and other locations in search for more victims.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the mass poisoning as a “terrible tragedy,” adding that the president was being briefed about the situation.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told a Cabinet meeting that authorities need to quickly ban such substances, saying their makers have been increasingly competing with legal alcohol producers.

“It’s an outrage, and we need to put an end to this,” he said in televised remarks.</s>At least 33 residents of the Siberian city of Irkutsk have died after drinking bath oil, hoping it would give them the same sensation as alcohol, Russian investigators said on Monday.

Use of counterfeit or surrogate alcohol is rife in Russia’s regions, where two years of economic pain have pushed more people below the poverty line, though the death toll from this latest incident is unusually high.

“This type of problem is well known and the president has been informed. It undoubtedly demands our undivided attention and measures must be taken.”

Investigators in Irkutsk, a city around 4184.29 km (2,600 miles) east of Moscow, said they had detained two people suspected of distributing the bath oil. A local police official told Russian agencies five other arrests had also been made.

The product had a warning on its label saying it should not be swallowed, but investigators said people had ignored that and consumed it as if it was alcohol. The bath oil contained methylated spirit, they said.

A local official told news agency TASS that the liquid came in bottles whose labels said the content was 93 per cent spirit. Police said they had found the workshop where the bath oil, called Hawthorn, was being produced alongside bootleg vodka.

It was unclear whether those selling the product were marketing it as a cheaper substitute for alcoholic drinks such as vodka.

“Forty two people have been admitted to medical institutions of whom 25 have died,” investigators said in an initial statement.

“Investigators and the police are conducting searches at markets where the liquid was first obtained. More than 100 points of sale have been identified.”

Investigators later told the Interfax news agency that the death toll had been revised up to 33.

Prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said in a government meeting he wanted to look at banning products that could cause so many deaths and that the country’s criminal code was being amended to toughen the punishment for people caught selling them.

In the meantime, Irkutsk mayor, Dmitry Berdnikov announced a state of emergency in the city and temporarily banned the sale of all liquids containing spirits not meant for human consumption, according to agencies.

Alcohol market expert Vadim Drobiz says up to 12 million Russians drink cheap surrogate alcohol.</s>Use of counterfeit or surrogate alcohol is rife in Russia's regions, where two years of economic pain have pushed more people below the poverty line. Russian media reported that the victims were poor residents of Irkutsk, a hard scrabble city around 2,600 miles east of Moscow.

The case underlines how hard up a large swath of the population is despite Moscow's growing profile and clout on the global stage.

"It is a terrible tragedy," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "This type of problem is well known and the president has been informed. Measures must be taken."

Russia's Investigative Committee sent a group of experienced investigators from Moscow, while Russian news agencies said the mayor of Irkutsk had declared a state of emergency and temporarily banned the sale of all liquids containing spirits not meant for human consumption.

"According to our latest data 41 of 57 people who were hospitalized after drinking the liquid have died," investigators said in a statement. "More than 2,000 units of the liquid have been confiscated with an overall volume of 500 liters."

Among liquids that have been used as a substitute for alcoholic drinks are perfume, after-shave, anti-freeze and window cleaner.

Alexei Navalny, a Kremlin critic who wants to challenge Vladimir Putin for the presidency in 2018, said the case had garnered wide attention because so many people had died at the same time. Hundreds of people, he said, died unremarked every day in unrelated cases for the same reason.

"The problem .... for Russia and its national security is roughly a thousand times more important than Syria, Aleppo, Ukraine and Trump put together," said Navalny, blaming poverty and corruption for the sale of such toxic surrogates.

"Every year ... (such concoctions) kill more people than have been killed in terrorist attacks in Russia's entire history."

Investigators, who opened a criminal case into the poisonings, said they had detained two people suspected of distributing the deadly bath oil. The product carried a warning saying it should not be swallowed, but investigators said people had ignored that and consumed it as if it was alcohol.

The bath oil contained methylated spirit, they said, a toxic substance found in cleaning materials and paint stripper.

Police said they had found the workshop where the bath oil, called Hawthorn, was being produced alongside bootleg vodka.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he wanted to look at banning products that could cause so many deaths and that the country's criminal code was being amended to toughen the punishment for people caught selling them.

Alcohol market expert Vadim Drobiz says up to 12 million Russians, or about one-twelfth of the population, drink cheap surrogate alcohol.
At least 49 people die in Irkutsk, Russia after consuming hawthorn-scented bath essence as if it were alcohol. The product has been found to contain methanol.