HYDERABAD: Consuming adulterated toddy has reportedly killed one person and landed 97 others in hospital across 12 villages in Vikarabad district as on Saturday after they suffered seizures.
The district excise officials collected 12 toddy samples from the villages and sent these to the department’s lab in Hyderabad for testing.
Most of the affected persons are from Yerravalli, Pendlimadugu, Kamareddyguda, Narayanpur, Kothagadi and Chittigidda villages of the district. The person who died was from Pendlimadugu.
Panic gripped the villages as the residents, one after the other, started to have seizures from Friday evening.
The numbers kept increasing on Saturday. District officials observed that most of the persons, who were hospitalised, had the habit of drinking toddy.
Following this, the excise officials raided the toddy shops in all the villages and a toddy depot at Chittigidda, from where the samples were collected for chemical analysis.
Speaking to the media, Excise Department Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Qureshi said all those hospitalised are stable.
According to doctors’ diagnosis, they are showing withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and dizziness for which they are being administered treatment.
Later in the day, Maheshwaram MLA and Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy said officials are asking people to seek medical help if they are showing the said symptoms.
Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy said: “Around 87-97 people from 12 villages have been hospitalised. Most of them used to consume toddy in the evenings and it is being alleged that the toddy they consumed was adulterated.”
She added, “Toddy samples have been sent for testing and if they are found to be adulterated, action will be initiated as per law. The district officials are creating awareness in all the affected villages. They are asking all those suffering from the said symptoms to seek medical care immediately.”