Seven people have died after drinking hand sanitiser when booze ran out during a party in Russia.
Reports claim that there are two more people that remain in a coma on an intensive care ward.
A group of nine people drank the antiseptic hand wash when the alcohol ran out at a party on Thursday in Tomtor village in the Tattinsky district of the country’s largest region, Yakutia.
The first three victims were a 41-year-old woman and two men aged 27 and 59.
Six others were flown by a medical evacuation aircraft to regional capital Yakutsk.
On Friday three more men died, aged 28, 32 and 69. One more death was reported on Saturday (21 November).
Federal public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, released a statement which explained: “Nine cases of poisoning with sanitiser have been registered, including seven that were fatal .”
The regional state prosecutor said: “The poisoning took place as a result of drinking sanitiser.”
Partygoers drank the sanitiser – which was 69 percent methanol – that had been sold as a hand cleanser during the coronavirus pandemic.
A criminal case has been opened.
The news comes after three people died and one was permanently blinded after drinking hand sanitiser in the US.
The state’s Department of Health said the cases were reported to the New Mexico Poison Control Center. The first came in on 7 May and then others in the weeks that followed. They relate to alcoholism, according to health officials.
New Mexico Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel said in a statement at the time: “If you think you may have used or consumed hand sanitiser containing methanol, please seek medical care. An antidote to methanol poisoning is available, but the earlier someone gets treated for methanol poisoning the better the chance of recovery.”
These cases come after the FDA identified 67 products which it is now recalling, and is urging members of the public to check their hand sanitiser does not contain methanol.
If it does, the FDA recommends disposing of it in hazardous waste containers and not flushing it or pouring it down the drain.
The report reads: “Severe methanol poisoning resulting in permanent disability or death can occur after swallowing alcohol-based hand sanitiser containing methanol.”
