Kolkata: In less than a week, West Bengal suffered another major blow as 143 people, mostly rickshaw pullers, labourers and hawkers, died and more than 100 were hospitalised after consuming toxic liquor Thursday.
The tragedy, one of the worst in India, occurred in Sangrampur in South 24 Parganas district. Last Friday, a huge fire killed 93 people in a south Kolkata hospital.
State Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered the Criminal Investigation Department to probe the deaths and has announced a compensation of Rs200,000 (Dh13,337) each to the families of the victims. A health official said the victims died of cardio-respiratory failure due to methyl poisoning. Most victims belonged to Usthi, Mandirbazar and Magrahat police station areas.
Official sources said more people have been admitted to hospitals since Wednesday evening and continued until yesterday.
"Though the administration is not bound to give any compensation as consuming such liquor is illegal, I am doing this as a humanitarian gesture, since the people who have died here are all poor people," Banerjee told Gulf News.
