Death toll in hooch tragedy rises to 70

Haridwar/Saharanpur: The death toll in the spurious liquor tragedy that hit two adjoining districts has risen to 70 with more people dying of the hooch they drank at a Haridwar village, officials said Saturday.

Twenty-four of the victims died in Balupur and its neighbouring villages in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district, an official said.

Forty-six others, who had come home to the adjoining Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, after drinking the spurious liquor in Balupur on Thursday night, are also dead.

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Officials said 35 Saharanpur deaths took place in the district itself. Eleven others, who were referred from Saharanpur for medical treatment in Meerut, died at a hospital there.

The viscera of some more people reported dead since Friday is still being examined to determine if those deaths are also alcohol-related.