In this picture taken Monday, Sept. 10, 2012, senior doctor Petr Bilina stands in front of the resuscitation unit where a 65-old-year man poisoned by methyl alcohol (methanol) is being treated in the hospital of the Czech town of Pribram, some 60 kilometres southwest of Prague. At least four more people have died in the Czech Republic after drinking bootleg alcohol tainted with toxic methanol, bringing the death toll to seven in the worst such poisoning in three decades, officials said on Tuesday. Police spokeswoman Miluse Zajicova said a 45-year-old man died in a hospital in the eastern town of Prerov, and a 21-year-old woman was found dead in nearby Osek nad Becvou. . (AP Photo/CTK, Stanislav Zbynek) SLOVAKIA OUT
September 12, 2012 - 12:02 PM
PRAGUE - The Czech Republic has announced a state of emergency, saying that at least 15 people are dead and 24 have been hospitalized after drinking cheap vodka and rum laced with methanol.
The toxic substance is used to stretch alcohol on the black market and guarantees high profits for its manufacturers.
Police say they have raided 410 kiosks and markets nationwide, finding about 70 of them that were selling illegal alcohol.
Some of the victims have been blinded. Others have been induced into comas in the hope that doctors can save them.
Prime Minister Petr Necas has called on all Czechs to refrain from drinking "any alcohol whose origin is uncertain."
News from © The Associated Press, 2012