Toxic methanol took the lives of over 700 people in Iran, as they consumed it falsely thinking that it will cure the coronavirus. An official reported on Monday that this death toll is higher than what the Iranian government has yet reported.
International media reported that an Iranian adviser to the ministry, Hossein Hassanian, said that the difference in death tallies is because some 200 alcohol poisoning victims died outside of hospital.
Alcohol poisoning has skyrocketed by ten times over in Iran in the past year, according to a government report released earlier in April, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The national coroner’s authority said that alcohol poisoning killed 728 Iranians between Feb 20 and April 7. Last year there were only 66 deaths from alcohol poisoning, according to the report.
The Iranian health ministry spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpour said that 525 people have died from swallowing toxic methanol alcohol since Feb 20.
Jahanpour said that a total of 5,011 people had been poisoned from methanol alcohol, some 90 have lost their eye sight and are suffering from eye damage.
Iran is facing the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East with 5,806 deaths and more than 91,000 confirmed cases.
Methanol cannot be smelled or tasted in drinks. It causes delayed organ and brain damage. Symptoms include chest pain, nausea, hyperventilation, blindness and even coma.
According to the Iranian law, the manufacturers of toxic methanol are supposed to add a colour dye to their products so that the people can tell ethanol apart from methanol. Ethanol is often used to clean wounds and is found in alcoholic beverages, but the production in Iran is banned.
Some bootleggers in Iran use methanol, adding a splash of bleach to mask the added color before selling it as drinkable. Methanol also can contaminate traditionally fermented alcohol.
The consumption of alcohol is generally prohibited in Iran. However, minority Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians can drink alcoholic beverages in private.
After the virus outbreak in Iran, the government ordered for the inauguration of new alcohol factories so they would be able to produce sanitising products and be self-sufficient as a state.
Iran currently has around 40 alcohol factories that have been allocated for pharmaceutical and sanitising items.
International media reported that an Iranian adviser to the ministry, Hossein Hassanian, said that the difference in death tallies is because some 200 alcohol poisoning victims died outside of hospital.
Alcohol poisoning has skyrocketed by ten times over in Iran in the past year, according to a government report released earlier in April, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The national coroner’s authority said that alcohol poisoning killed 728 Iranians between Feb 20 and April 7. Last year there were only 66 deaths from alcohol poisoning, according to the report.
The Iranian health ministry spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpour said that 525 people have died from swallowing toxic methanol alcohol since Feb 20.
Jahanpour said that a total of 5,011 people had been poisoned from methanol alcohol, some 90 have lost their eye sight and are suffering from eye damage.
Iran is facing the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East with 5,806 deaths and more than 91,000 confirmed cases.
Methanol cannot be smelled or tasted in drinks. It causes delayed organ and brain damage. Symptoms include chest pain, nausea, hyperventilation, blindness and even coma.
According to the Iranian law, the manufacturers of toxic methanol are supposed to add a colour dye to their products so that the people can tell ethanol apart from methanol. Ethanol is often used to clean wounds and is found in alcoholic beverages, but the production in Iran is banned.
Some bootleggers in Iran use methanol, adding a splash of bleach to mask the added color before selling it as drinkable. Methanol also can contaminate traditionally fermented alcohol.
The consumption of alcohol is generally prohibited in Iran. However, minority Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians can drink alcoholic beverages in private.
After the virus outbreak in Iran, the government ordered for the inauguration of new alcohol factories so they would be able to produce sanitising products and be self-sufficient as a state.
Iran currently has around 40 alcohol factories that have been allocated for pharmaceutical and sanitising items.