5 Dead and 114 Poisoned After Consuming 'Homemade Alcohol' in Sirjan

The consumption of 'homemade alcohol' in Sirjan County, Kerman Province, has led to the deaths of at least 5 individuals and sent 114 others to the hospital, with 50 of them hospitalized. According to the news agency 'Khabar Online', Mohammad Saberi, head of the Emergency Management Center of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, stated on Tuesday, August 2, that 5 people have died due to 'complications from consuming counterfeit alcoholic beverages' in Sirjan since the evening of Thursday, July 29. He noted that on Saturday, August 1, 99 individuals had visited hospitals in Sirjan due to 'consumption of counterfeit alcoholic beverages,' and this number rose to 114 by Tuesday morning. According to the report, 46 individuals are hospitalized in two hospitals in Sirjan, and four others in a hospital in Shahrebabak due to poisoning from alcohol consumption. Saberi further urged individuals who have consumed alcohol to visit hospitals for examination, adding that people have not taken alcohol poisoning seriously. He also mentioned that 'the counterfeit alcohol was contaminated with methanol.' Methanol, or wood alcohol, is used as a solvent in printing and copying solutions, adhesives, paints, and varnishes. Meanwhile, Yadollah Mohammadi, the head of the Kerman Judiciary, announced that this case would be handled out of turn. According to police investigations, a truck driver had obtained two 20-liter containers of 'homemade' alcohol from Isfahan and distributed it in Sirjan. The consumption of substandard and smuggled alcoholic beverages has repeatedly led to deaths or loss of eyesight among consumers in various cities in Iran. For instance, in 2013, over 350 people in several cities in Kerman Province, including Rafsanjan, were poisoned due to drinking counterfeit alcoholic beverages, resulting in 7 deaths. Last year, a medical examiner stated at a conference on 'Alcohol Abuse and Addiction' that, based on cases submitted to the organization, between 2010 and 2014, the annual death toll from alcohol consumption was 145, 93, 136, 135, and 81, respectively. Mohammad Reza Ghadirzadeh also mentioned that 'the total financial turnover and trade of alcoholic beverages in the country is 658 billion tomans, and there are 23 alcohol production factories in the country.' There are no accurate statistics on the exact amount of alcoholic beverage consumption in Iran, and various officials have reported differing figures on this matter. For instance, Ali Akbar Siari, Deputy Minister of Health, reported an annual consumption of 420 million liters of alcohol in the country, while some reports suggest an annual consumption of about 60 million liters of alcoholic beverages in Iran. In this context, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, announced last year that nearly 300,000 bottles of foreign alcohol and about 200,000 liters of domestically produced alcohol were discovered in Tehran within 10 months. Qasem Khorshidi, spokesman for the Anti-Smuggling Headquarters, also stated last year that 1,427,000 cans or bottles of alcoholic beverages were discovered in one year. The punishment for consuming alcoholic beverages in Iran is 80 lashes, and after two executions of this punishment, repeated consumption can lead to execution. In this context, the consumption of 'homemade alcohol' in Sirjan has sent dozens to the hospital, with an 'increase' in alcohol consumption 'in southern provinces of Iran.' After cigarettes, alcohol has the 'highest' consumption rate in Iran. A case has been formed regarding the smuggling of 670,000 liters of alcohol in Kermanshah, and 38 herbal shops have been closed for selling alcoholic beverages. Dolatabadi stated that the statistics on 'driving under the influence' in Tehran are alarming.