MOSCOW
Fourteen more people died in western Russia on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll from drinking bootleg alcohol to 32, with 60 hospitalized and some in critical condition, the country’s Health Ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement that the death toll from mass counterfeit alcohol poisoning has risen to 32, with 90 people seeking medical attention.
The statement said 60 people were hospitalized in six Russian regions, all of which are located alongside the Volga River, with varying degrees of poisoning severity – four patients in extremely serious condition, 30 in serious condition, and 26 in moderate-serious condition.
The Russian Investigative Committee announced on Monday that it had opened a criminal case after 16 people died of poisoning in the Ulyanovsk region, two in the neighboring Samara region, and dozens more were hospitalized across the country.
The investigators said people were poisoned by the drink Mister Sidr produced in the Samara region.
Meanwhile, Anna Popova, head of Russia’s sanitary watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, on Tuesday instructed authorities to find and seize all counterfeit products.
Police in Volga regions searched for the product by inspecting alcoholic beverage storage and sale locations.
