Consumption of Homemade Beverage in Sirjan Sends Dozens to Hospital
The consumption of “homemade alcoholic beverages” in Sirjan city in Kerman Province has resulted in the death of four people and sent dozens to hospitals, with the condition of three of them reported as critical.
According to ILNA news agency report, 92 people have been poisoned as a result of consuming “homemade” alcoholic beverages in Sirjan city, four of whom have lost their lives.
According to this report, these individuals have been referred to Sirjan medical centers from Thursday evening, July 29 until Sunday evening, August 1.
In this regard, ISNA news agency also reported that 30 of the poisoned individuals are undergoing “dialysis” and 48 people have been hospitalized, three of whom are in “critical” condition.
Yadollah Movahed, Chief Justice of Kerman, announced that this case will be handled out of turn.
According to Movahed, based on security forces investigations, a truck driver obtained two 20-liter containers of “homemade” beverage from Isfahan and distributed them in Sirjan.
The consumption of non-standard and smuggled alcoholic beverages has repeatedly led to death or loss of sight among consumers in Iranian cities.
For instance, in year 92, more than 350 people in several different cities in Kerman Province, including Rafsanjan, were poisoned due to consuming counterfeit alcoholic beverages, and seven people died.
Last year, an official from the Forensic Medicine Organization said at a conference on “alcohol abuse and addiction” that according to files sent to this organization, in years 89 to 93, annually 145 people, 93 people, 136 people, 135 people, and 81 people, respectively, lost their lives due to the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Mohammad Reza Qadir Zadeh also stated that “the total financial turnover and buying and selling of alcoholic beverages in the country is 658 billion tomans and there are 23 alcohol production factories in the country”.
Regarding the exact amount of alcoholic beverage consumption in Iran, no precise statistics are available and different officials have repeatedly announced varying statistics in this regard.
For instance, Ali Akbar Siyari, Deputy of Health at the Ministry of Health, had reported an annual consumption of 420 million liters of alcohol in the country. However, some reports indicate an annual consumption of approximately 60 million liters of alcoholic beverages in Iran.
In this regard, Abbas Jafari Dowlatabad, Tehran’s Prosecutor, had announced last year that during a ten-month period, nearly 300 thousand bottles of foreign beverages and approximately 200 thousand liters of domestically produced beverages were seized in Tehran.
Ghasem Khorsheedi, spokesman for the Anti-Smuggling Headquarters, also said last year that in a one-year period, one million and 427 thousand cans or bottles of alcoholic beverages were seized.
The punishment for consuming alcoholic beverages in Iran is 80 lashes, and after two executions of this punishment, repeated consumption of alcoholic beverages can lead to execution.
Source: Radio Farda
