Death Toll Surges In Bihar After Drinking Illicit Alcohol : Hooch Tragedy

The death toll in the Siwan Hooch tragedy has now increased to 28, as per a release by the District Public Relations Officer here on Thursday.
The total count in the state has now risen to 33 with 28 dead in Siwan and 5 dead in Saran.
So far, a total of 79 people have been admitted to the Siwan Sadar Hospital, Basantpur Primary Health Center. 13 severely sick people have been admitted to PMCH Patna for treatment.
30 people have been successfully discharged from the hospital, as per the Siwan PRO. Additionally, the post-mortem of the 28 people has been done and their bodies have been handed over to the families.
As per the District Officer, a medical board of five senior doctors has been constituted and 30 beds in Siwan Sadar Hospital, 20 beds in CHC Basantpur and 30 beds in Sub Division Hospital Maharajganj have been reserved for the treatment of sick people. The hospitals have also been instructed to remain in alert mode for the next 24 hours.
Additional ambulances have also been arranged by the District Officer in the affected panchayats.
Senior administrative officers have been deputed in all hospitals, and directions have been sent to all ANMs, Asha workers, Anganwadi workers, Vikas Mitra and Panchayat workers to make door-to-door visits at the wards of the sick people and identify any serious symptoms, if any, refer to hospitals for treatment.
The opposition has lambasted the Bihar government claiming that its liquor ban policy has failed.
“Liquor ban is a small example of Shri Nitish Kumar’s institutional corruption. If liquor ban has been implemented then it is the government’s responsibility to implement it completely but due to the ideological and policy ambiguity of the Chief Minister, weak will and dependence on selected officials instead of public representatives, liquor ban is a super flop in Bihar today,” said RJD leader and former Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.
Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha on Friday said that the government has taken the matter seriously and the culprits would not be spared.
Speaking to the media persons, Sinha said “The government has taken this matter very seriously and the culprits behind this would not be spared. The government is investigating on who the people are behind this. Their faces will be exposed and those playing with the lives of the poor people would not be spared. People doing the liquor business become the candidates from RJD. The liquor ban has been implemented with everyone’s consent. Everyone should cooperate to implement it completely and stop saving the criminals who have committed this crime.”

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