Toxic liquor kills 55 in east India, dozens in hospital

The deaths were reported from the impoverished district of 24 Parganas in West Bengal state, the officials said.The death toll has now risen to 55 but we fear it will rise further, Narayan Swarup Nigam, the district administrator said.The civilian administrator also said at least 130 others injured by the poison-laced liquor were in hospitals and that more were reporting ill.Some of them are in critical condition, he said from 24 Parganas district, around 30 kilometres (19 miles) from state capital of Kolkata.The Press Trust of India, quoting unnamed sources in West Bengal, put the toll at 57.While 10 people died in Sangrampur village, 47 others succumbed to their injuries in hospitals, the semi official news agency added.It said most of the victims were poor people including construction workers, rickshaw-pullers and street vendors.The victims drank adulterated liquor late Tuesday night and the deaths occurred earlier Wednesday, police said.The state administration rushed emergency medicines and doctors to the government-run Diamond Harbour hospital, located near the village, other officials said.The police also arrested four alleged bootleggers and as local residents ransacked village breweries and staged protests, the West Bengal state administration ordered action against people selling toxic liquor.