Death toll from bootleg alcohol rises

ISTANBUL - Two more people died on Sunday after drinking fake raki, the Turkish national alcoholic beverage, bringing the death toll to 19, the state-run Anatolian news agency said.

The poisonings began on February 28 when drinkers fell ill at an Istanbul restaurant, losing consciousness or suffering temporary blindness. Others were poisoned after purchasing raki, a strong aniseed-flavoured alcohol, at grocery stores.

Sunday's deaths occurred at two Istanbul hospitals. Nearly all of the fatally poisoned drinkers were in Istanbul, while one person died in the northwestern city of Bursa.

Sixteen people remain in hospital after falling ill, news channel CNN Turk said.

Police suspect the lethal batch came from a makeshift Istanbul distillery, the owner of which was also killed.

Police raided four more bootleg liquor factories in Istanbul and arrested 12 people on Sunday, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said.

Authorities have confiscated more than 7,600 bottles of fake raki across the country in recent days, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu was quoted as saying.

The imitation raki contained fatally high levels of methyl alcohol, news reports have said. Genuine raki contains 0.15 per cent methyl alcohol but the illegal batch contained 57-97 per cent, health authorities have said.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan dismissed criticism that his Islamist-rooted government's high taxes on alcoholic beverages have encouraged the proliferation of illegal raki distilleries as a "poor excuse," CNN Turk said.

- REUTERS