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In Mexico, more than 40 people reportedly died after drinking contaminated liquor in recent days. This emerges from communications from local governments and media reports from four different states. In some of the affected areas, alcohol sales are currently banned due to the crown crisis.
In the municipality of Chiconcuautla alone, more than 20 people died, according to a message from the state of Puebla. They are said to have drank Refino, a type of agave brandy frequently distilled privately. An employee of the local mayor told the newspaper “La Jornada de Oriente” that it was popular in the poor area because it was cheap. He rejected reports of Mother’s Day celebrations on Sunday. The community had declared an emergency due to the deaths.
86 liters of a drink of doubtful origin
The government of neighboring Morelos in central Mexico reported 15 deaths. Seven unmarked containers with a total of 86 liters of a drink of dubious origin were found. A total of seven other deaths occurred in the Yucatan peninsula in southeastern Mexico, according to reports from the Diario de Yucatan newspaper, which depended on the local police.
The government of the western state of Jalisco announced on Wednesday night that six deaths there were also allegedly due to the consumption of adulterated brandy. There have been a total of 34 deaths there since April 26. Another 80 people had to be treated in hospitals. According to the calculations of the newspaper “Reforma”, around one hundred people in all Mexico have consumed contaminated drinks in the last two weeks.
Hundreds of thousands lost their jobs due to the crown crisis.
What the incidents in the different regions have in common is that the authorities attribute them to drinking brandy, which was distilled under unprofessional conditions. These drinks are consumed mainly by the poorest sectors of the population.
Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs in Mexico since the end of March to curb the spread of the coronavirus in companies that were not considered essential. This does not include the informal sector, which is estimated to have more than one in two Mexicans. Around 130 million people live in the country of North America. (Read more about the effects of the crisis in Mexico here).
