"During the new year holidays two more people died as a result of poisoning by 'Hawthorn.' There are still three victims remaining in the hospitals, one in critical condition," Tatiana Shkurskaya, representative of ministry's press service, told RIA Novosti.

Methanol is one of the most widely-used industrial chemicals that can be applied to production of plastics, furniture, automotive parts and fuel blending.

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The death toll from people who drank poisonous methanol in Irkutsk, Russia, rises to 76.