TURKEY: Bootleg alcohol kills 124 in six weeks

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At least 124 people have died in Ankara and Istanbul in the past six weeks after drinking bootleg alcohol, and dozens more are in intensive care, state news agency Anadolu said Monday.

Some 54 people have died in the capital Ankara, where another 40 were fighting for their lives in hospital, it said.

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Earlier this month, Anadolu said 70 others had died in Istanbul.

Such poisonings are relatively common in Turkey, where clandestine production is widespread and bootleg alcohol is often tainted with methanol, a toxic substance that can cause blindness, liver damage and death.

The chief public prosecutor’s office in Ankara arrested 28 suspects in connection with the production and sale of counterfeit alcohol, all but three of whom were later granted conditional release, Anadolu said.