Assam hooch tragedy toll rises to 126

The death toll in Assam’s hooch tragedy has risen to 126, turning the episode into one of the worst cases of hooch deaths in the country in recent years.

At least 71 people have died in Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH), 51 in Golaghat and 4 in Titabor Subdivision Hospital in Jorhat district, an official familiar with the development said.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Health Minister Himanta Sarma had on Saturday reviewed the condition of victims undergoing treatment at JMCH.

Sonowal announced a monetary compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those who fell ill.

He also ordered an inquiry into the incident by Upper Assam Division Commissioner Julie Sonowal on Friday and directed her to submit the report within a month.

Doctors from Assam Medical College Hospital of Dibrugarh district, Gauhati Medical College Hospital and Tezpur Medical College Hospital in Sonitpur district have been rushed to the Jorhat and Golaghat hospitals to provide medical care, Himanta Sarma said.

At least five people who served as the distributors of the illicit liquor died in the tragedy, police officials in Golaghat said on Saturday..

A top police official said there are at least 17 other suspects involved in selling the illicit alcohol who have been identified across the district which saw deaths reported from Halmira Tea Estate, Wokha Tea Estate, Gobindpur.

At the Halmira Tea estate hospital, which accounted for at least 38 casualties, the patients started arriving at 4.10 pm on Thursday. Bondhoin Bowri was the first one to arrive.

The deaths, mostly of tea estate workers in Golaghat and Jorhat districts, came less than two weeks after tainted liquor killed about 100 people in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

(With inputs from news agency PTI)

First Published: Feb 24, 2019 13:46 IST