Spurious liquor: 34 dead in UP, Uttarakhand

Thirty-four people died in two adjoining districts allegedly after drinking spurious liquor at a village in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district, officials said on Friday. The toll is likely to rise, official sources said. The victims had consumed the spurious liquor on Thursday evening at a function to mark the 13th day of death of a relative, officials said. Sixteen of the victims died in Uttarakhand's Balupur village and 18 more died in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district, which adjoins Uttarakhand, as those who had attended the ritual returned home. Some of them had carried the liquor home, an official said. In another incident in eastern UP's Kushinagar district, eight people have died over the last three days, allegedly after drinking spurious liquor.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi conveyed his condolences over the deaths. “It is very unfortunate. My deepest condolences to the families of the victims who succumbed to it. I pray for the speedy recovery of those fighting for life in hospitals,” Gandhi said in a Facebook post.