Toxic alcohol death toll in Selangor rises to 24

SHAH ALAM, Sept 22 (Bernama) – The death toll from toxic alcohol poisoning in the state has risen by two to 24 as of 9am today, said Selangor police chief Datuk Mazlan Mansor.

He said the latest deaths involved two Nepalese men aged 29 and 30.

"Of the total number of deaths, two of them were Malaysians, two from Bangladesh, eight from Nepal, 10 from Myanmar, one from India and another victim whose identity was still unknown," he said.

He said 18 people were still receiving treatment in hospitals while 16 others had been discharged.

Mazlan said so far, the Selangor police had recorded 58 victims of toxic alcohol poisoning.

Since Monday, over 20 people comprising locals and foreigners have died and dozens more treated in hospitals around the Klang Valley and Perak due to toxic alcohol poisoning.

Meanwhile in KUALA LUMPUR, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said he had ordered alcoholic drink products that were not in line with regulations as stipulated by the Health Ministry to be withdrawn from the market.

"We believe that there is adulterated compounded hard liquor in the alcoholic drinks. That's why the labelling (of the deadly alcoholic drinks) was not right. There was no name of the distributor stated as well as when the products were imported.

"So there is a possibility of the presence of hazardous ingredients like methanol in the alcoholic drinks that has led to recent deaths," he told a press conference after officiating the 2018 Innovation Forum Kuala Lumpur here today.

As such he advised the public to buy alcoholic drinks with approved labelling from the Health Ministry and avoid consuming fake ones that were feared to have contained methanol.

-- BERNAMA