Martinis are on display at a sidewalk bar in Washington, D.C. According to officials, 32 people died in a Pakistani town after consuming homemade alcohol on Christmas Day. File Photo by Billie Jean Shaw/UPI

TOBA TEK SINGH, Pakistan, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- At least 32 people, mostly Christians, died after consuming homemade liquor in a Pakistani town on Christmas, law enforcement said.

Another 25 people were being treated in hospitals after drinking the illegal alcohol in the city of Toba Tek Singh, police officer Mohammad Nadeem told BBC Urdu.

Liquor sales are tightly regulated in Pakistan because Muslims are forbidden from buying or drinking it. Most residents of the Mubarakabad neighborhood of Toba Tek Singh are Christians, though, a minority in Pakistan. Wealthy Pakistanis buy bootlegged foreign alcohol, but poor people often drink home brews that can contain methanol, commonly used in anti-freeze and fuel.

"The men who belong to the Christian community drank liquor on the night of Dec. 25 and went home. Tragedy struck the next morning when many did not rise from their beds, while others got sick," Nadeem said.

Two local men were asked to buy alcohol at an unknown location for the party, he said.

"The local sellers were out of stock so they went and bought it from somewhere else. Both have died," Nadeem said.

A father-son duo have been arrested for making the toxic liquor, The Times of India reported.

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"We are still investigating what kind of drink it was," Atif Imran Qureshi, a police official in Toba Tek Singh, told The New York Times. "We didn't find any bottles, but it would most probably be homemade liquor."

In October, 11 people died from alcohol poisoning, also in Punjab province.

In 2014 some 40 people died within a few days as a result of drinking tainted alcohol in Sindh.

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And others have died in other nations, dozens in the Russian city of Irkutsk after drinking bath lotion that contained alcohol. In India, hundreds have died in alcohol poisoning incidents.</s>ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — At least 27 Christians died and dozens more were sickened in a small city in Pakistan after drinking toxic alcohol on Christmas, officials said on Tuesday.

At least 60 people fell ill from the alcohol during celebrations on Sunday in the city, Toba Tek Singh, in Punjab Province, and dozens were taken to a nearby hospital, officials said. Almost 50 people were later brought to a hospital in Faisalabad, the closest major city, for treatment.

By Tuesday, the death toll had reached 27, Atif Imran Qureshi, a police official in Toba Tek Singh, said in a phone interview. The provincial government ordered an inquiry into the episode.

The sale of alcohol is restricted in Pakistan, but non-Muslims and foreigners can get permits from the provincial and federal authorities to consume it.</s>At least 30 people have died in eastern Pakistan after consuming toxic alcohol during the Christmas holiday.

Police officer Atif Imran Qureshi said on December 27 that in addition to the deaths, dozens of people were hospitalized in the town of Toba Tek Singh, in Punjab Province, after drinking the poisonous drinks.

Although alcohol is prohibited in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, non-Muslims are allowed to buy it from licensed shops. But many poor Christians are unable to afford legal alcohol and buy cheap homemade versions that cause deaths every year.

The fatal incidents involving illicit alcohol are not limited to the Christian community.

In March at least 40 people, mostly Hindus, died after drinking toxic alcohol before the Holi festival.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, AP, the Economic Times, and Geo News</s>At least 39 people, most of them Christians celebrating Christmas, have died and dozens have fallen ill after drinking toxic alcohol in Pakistan, according to officials. Police in eastern Punjab province took all alcohol sellers in the district of Toba Tek Singh, the site of the incident, into custody for questioning, Muhammad Shahbaz, a local […]

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Also, Like us on facebook</s>At least 32 people have died and dozens have been left seriously ill after drinking toxic alcohol over Christmas in Punjab in Pakistan, officials say.

The dead, mostly minority Christians, consumed the homemade liquor in the city of Toba Tek Singh.

Muslims are forbidden from buying or drinking alcohol in Pakistan – and minorities need a permit to buy liquor.

With alcohol sales tightly regulated, cheap homebrewed spirits often contain poisonous methanol.

It’s the latest case of deadly alcohol poisoning in Pakistan after 11 died in October, also in Punjab province.

Police officer Mohammad Nadeem told BBC Urdu that 25 people were still being treated in hospitals in Toba Tek Singh and Faisalabad to have their stomachs pumped.

“The men who belong to the Christian community drank liquor on the night of 25 December and went home. Tragedy struck the next morning when many did not rise from their beds, while others got sick,” he said.

He said two local Muslim men had been asked to buy alcohol for the party.

“The local sellers were out of stock so they went and bought it from somewhere else. Both have died.”

Police are questioning a number of locals to find out where the alcohol was made and sold.

Because of Pakistan’s liquor regulations, many people illegally brew alcohol at home, and there have been several cases of mass poisonings in the past – in 2014 some 40 people died within a few days as a result of drinking tainted alcohol in Sindh.

Distilling alcohol safely requires precise conditions to ensure methanol, or methyl alcohol, is separated from the drink.

Hundreds of people have also died in mass alcohol poisoning incidents in neighbouring India in recent years.

Last week dozens of people died in the Russian city of Irkutsk after drinking a bath lotion which contained alcohol.</s>Over 100 people were rushed to hospitals after drinking the liquor.

The post 39 die after drinking toxic liquor in Pakistan appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.

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Also, Like us on facebook</s>A toxic homemade Christmas liquor killed at least 23 people, mostly from Pakistan’s Christian minority community, and made dozens sick, police said on Tuesday.

At least 45 people were treated for poisoning after drinking the moonshine in the town of Toba Tek Singh, Punjab province, about 315 km (195 miles) south of Islamabad.

“The maker and supplier of the toxic liquor is also included among the dead,” senior police official Bilal Kamyana told Reuters. “The maker prepared liquor at home and sold it in polythene bags for 500 rupees (about €5) each.”

Deaths from tainted liquor, often home-brewed, occur periodically in Muslim-majority Pakistan, often around religious festivals. In March, at least 40 people, mostly Hindus, died after drinking toxic liquor days ahead of the festival of Holi.

It is illegal for Muslims to buy or consume alcohol in the country, and minorities need permits to buy it in restricted quantities.

Christians make up about 1.6 per cent of Pakistan’s 190 million people, with most living in Punjab.</s>At least 32 people have died while dozens more have been left seriously ill after drinking tainted liquor over the Christmas holiday in Pakistan.

Dozens of people are still being treated in hospital in Punjab after drinking the moonshine in the city of Toba Tek Singh, officials said.

Local police officer Atif Imran Qureshi said dozens of people were transported to hospitals in the city of Faisalabad in the eastern Punjab province after they consumed contaminated alcohol.

A total of 19 people died Tuesday, and 12 the day before, in the city 200 miles south of capital Islamabad, he said.

Umair Ahmed, a physician at Allied hospital in the city of Faisalabad, said a dozen more people were still being treated.

Those who drank the toxic bootleg alcohol were mostly minority Christians. Muslims are forbidden from buying or drinking alcohol in Pakistan - while minorities need a permit to buy booze.

With alcohol sales tightly regulated, many poor Christians buy homemade liquor — which is more affordable but causes deaths almost every year.

Drinking bootleg booze is dangerous because distilling alcohol safely requires precise conditions to ensure methanol is separated from the drink - a process that is not always carried out correctly when alcohol is home-brewed.

'The maker and supplier of the toxic liquor is also included among the dead,' senior police official Bilal Kamyana told Reuters.

'The maker prepared liquor at home and sold it in polythene bags for 500 rupees (about £4) each.'

Deaths from tainted liquor, which is often home-brewed, occur periodically in Muslim-majority Pakistan, often around religious festivals.

In March, at least 40 people, mostly Hindus, died after drinking toxic liquor days ahead of the festival of Holi, while 11 people died from alcohol poisoning in October, also in Punjab province.

Christians make up about 1.6 percent of Pakistan's 190 million people, with most living in Punjab.</s>Christmas celebrations in Pakistan turned sour after 22 Christians died after consuming tainted alcohol. Authorities in Toba Tek Singh, a city in the Punjab province reported that 12 people had succumbed to the toxic homemade brew by the morning on 26 December.

Police officer Shahbaz Virk said that a total of 34 people from the Mubarakabad Christian Colony were admitted to the local hospital for treatment, of which four were in critical condition. The death toll rose by another 10 by Monday night, according to Pakistani news website The News International.

Seven suspects have been detained on charges of supplying the alcohol. While the sale of alcohol is prohibited by law, non-Muslims are allowed to purchase it from licensed shops. High price of store-bought liquor forces many Christians to buy homemade versions.

In the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Christians attempting to purchase alcohol suffered another kind of attack after gunmen opened fire on liquor stores in Ghadeer neighbourhood. According to local police, three people were killed and four others injured, but other sources claim the death toll was higher.

Rayan al-Kildani, commander of Babiliyon Brigades, a group of Christian volunteers formed to fight Islamic State militants, said that eight Christians along with one Yazidi individual were killed in the attack.

Since the incident, which took place on 23 December, Christians have become fearful of openly celebrating the festive season. "What a bloody gift they gave us for Christmas," Joseph Warda, a Christian human rights activist said according to Pakistan Today.

Retired school teacher Maria Polos opined the incident made members of the minority community feel even more at risk in the Islamic nation. "We fear getting killed like those in the alcohol shops," she said. "We feel we're aliens in this country."</s>Death toll from using toxic liquor jumps to 27 in Pakistan

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Police say the death toll from consuming tainted liquor during the Christmas holiday in eastern Pakistan has jumped to 27.

Local police officer Atif Imran Qureshi said Tuesday that dozens of people were transported to hospitals in the town of Toba Tek Singh in Punjab province after they consumed contaminated alcohol. A total of 15 people died, and another 12 people died elsewhere the day before.

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.
At least 27 people are killed after drinking toxic alcohol in Pakistan.