Methanol Poisoning in Poldashт Leaves Dozens Poisoned and One Dead
According to reports from Iran, methanol poisoning resulting from homemade and counterfeit alcoholic beverages during a ceremony in Poldashт, a city in West Azerbaijan Province, has affected at least 45 people, with one death reported.
Iranian domestic media quoted the head of the Accident and Emergency Medical Center of West Azerbaijan Province as saying that 11 people have been hospitalized so far.
Bagher Bahrami stated that “the liver, kidneys, and eyes of these individuals have suffered the most damage from consuming counterfeit and homemade alcoholic beverages.”
The Islamic Republic’s state news agency says police have arrested three individuals in connection with the incident.
Mr. Bahrami told Iranian news agencies that from March 1 of last year to May 4 of this year, at least 127 people in West Azerbaijan Province have been poisoned due to consumption of homemade and counterfeit alcoholic beverages, with at least 10 citizens having lost their lives.
In early spring, Hojat Pourfatehi, Vice Chancellor of Treatment at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, had reported the poisoning of 238 people due to alcohol poisoning in East Azerbaijan Province within one month, stating that at least ten people had lost their lives.
Since the consumption and production of alcoholic beverages is fundamentally considered a crime in Iran, there is no proper oversight or health monitoring of its production.
Mostafa Tajzadeh, a former political official of the Islamic Republic government, had called for the government to reconsider the issue of “alcoholic beverages” last month and described efforts to combat it as a “failed” policy.
Source: Radio Farda
