Toll in AP spirit tragedy rises to seven

A team of doctors would conduct viscera examination on the bodies to find which chemical led to the deaths

Visakhapatnam: The death toll in the suspected industrial spirit tragedy here has risen to seven as four more people, including two women, died in the early hours of Monday at a hospital, police said.

Inspector of Gajuwaka Police Station, K Rama Rao said the death toll is expected to rise. Three people, including a woman, died and 11 people were hospitalized after they consumed suspected industrial spirit at Uppara Colony and Swatantra Nagar of Pedagantyada Mandal at Gajuwaka in Vizag city on Sunday.

A team of doctors would conduct viscera examination on the bodies to find which chemical led to the deaths, police added.

Those who died are daily wage earners. The incident comes close on the heels of the hooch tragedy in Assam in which about 157 people, mostly tea garden workers, have died and more than 300 others are still undergoing treatment in hospitals.

Meanwhile, the Left parties organised a protest at the KG Hospital in Vizag city demanding that the government pay a compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the families of the deceased.

The government, however, did not announce ex-gratia relief as the model code of conduct is in force for the Legislative Council elections, official sources said.