Seven people died Saturday, November 21 and two were still in a coma Monday in the Russian region of Yakutia (Far East) after drinking diluted antiseptic, local health authorities said.
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On Saturday, authorities announced that nine residents of the village of Tomtor had become unwell after drinking antiseptic liquid, widely used since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, bought in a local store.
Three people died instantly on Saturday while six others were transported to the regional capital, Yakutsk.
Four of them died in hospital and "two people remain in a coma, their condition is unchanged", said Monday the press service of the Ministry of Health of Yakutia, quoted by the Russian agency Ria Novosti.
They are a 48-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man, both connected to artificial respirators, authorities said.
Investigators said they found an unlabeled five-liter container at the scene.
Analysis revealed that it contained 69% methanol, a toxic industrial alcohol.
This antiseptic will be withdrawn from sale, health authorities in Yakutia said on Sunday.
The consumption of cleaning products, parapharmacy or antifreeze for cars is at the origin of tragic news every year in the former USSR, especially in particularly disadvantaged rural regions.
In 2016, more than one hundred people were poisoned and 78 died in the Irkutsk region (Eastern Siberia) after consuming a hawthorn-infused bath product containing methanol, the consumption of which can cause blindness. and fatal breathing difficulties.
If alcohol consumption has decreased in recent years in Russia, thanks to important public measures, their sale has increased again since the containment imposed by the authorities in March to fight the pandemic.