Death toll from bootleg alcohol rising

ISTANBUL

The production of bootleg alcohol has become a matter of grave concern, as the death toll has reached at least 41 in several provinces across Turkey.

The police on Dec. 15 launched a major operation in the country’s 81 provinces to apprehend those responsible for producing and selling the illegal liquors, with operations continuing on Dec. 16.

In those operations, nearly 100 suspects were detained and tens of tons of bootleg alcohol were seized.

In Istanbul, 22 people alone, including foreign nationals, lost their lives, while in the southern province of Gaziantep’s Nizip district another four people died after consuming bootleg alcohol. Also, in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş, four fatalities were reported.

Three people in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas and at least two others in the western province of Yalova died from bootleg alcohol.

Security forces also crackdown on illegal alcohol producers in the popular holiday destinations of Marmaris, Bodrum and Fethiye districts in the Muğla province.

Turkey expects an influx of foreign tourists during the Christmas and New Year holiday season.

Bootleg alcohol is made using low-cost methyl alcohol instead of ethyl alcohol.

The consumption of illegally distilled liquor can cause permanent blindness, metabolic disturbances and death.