In one of the worst hooch tragedies in West Bengal, 57 people, mostly labourers, rickshaw-pullers and hawkers, died and over one hundred have been hospitalised in serious condition after consuming illicit liquor at Mograhat in South 24 Parganas district on Dec. 14. While 10 people died at Sangrampur village in the early hours of Dec. 14 after drinking from some liquor joints near the Sangrampur railway station, 47 died in two hospitals where they were admitted, reports said quoting official sources. The state government announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of those who died.
The condition of over 100 people admitted to the hospitals in Diamond Harbour and Sangrampur was serious, reports said, adding they had symptoms of severe stomach ache, vomiting and loose motion. A medical team has been rushed to the area from Kolkata Sunderban Affairs Minister ShyamalMandal said. Locals smashed a liquor manufacturing unit at Mograhat and the joints from where it was being sold at Sangrampur.