At least five people have died after drinking alcohol-based sanitiser after they could not get alcohol because of a strict lockdown underway in Maharashtra.
The incident took place in the village of Wani that is located in the Yavatmal district. According to the relatives, the men drank sanitiser to quench their addiction to alcohol.
The mayor of Wani Tarendra Borde confirmed the news stating that 5 men had died in his village after drinking sanitiser. The deceased have been identified as Datta Lanjewar, Nutan Patharatkar, Ganesh Nandekar, Santosh Meher and Sunil Dhengale.
Datta Lanjewar (47) drank sanitiser around 9 pm last night (April 23) and later started having chest pains at 10 pm when he came home. He was later rushed to Wani Rural Hospital but died during his treatment. Another man who consumed sanitiser for satiating his alcohol addiction complained of unease and was taken to the rural hospital for treatment. He, too, died, in the wee hours of April 24. Similarly, three other deaths were reported after they had consumed sanitiser in place of alcohol.
The bodies were sent to a rural hospital for postmortem. The relatives of the deceased informed the doctors at Wani Rural Hospital that their kin started having spasms of pain after drinking sanitiser.
There have been many incidents in the past when addicts have taken to sanitiser to slake their alcohol addiction. In July 2020, 10 people died in Andhra Pradesh after consuming hand sanitiser because of the unavailability of alcohol.
Maharashtra government imposes strict lockdown to curb the surging COVID-19 cases
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday night announced strict restrictions in the state due to a huge surge in the cases of COVID-19 cases. The state government has also issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the curbs.
In its new order, the state government permitted all groceries, vegetable shops, fruit vendors, dairies, bakeries, confectionaries, all type of food shops (including chicken, mutton, poultry, fish and eggs), shops related to agricultural implements and farm produce, pet food shops, shops related to materials for impending rainy season for individuals as well as for organisations to be open only between 7 am to 11 am.
