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Kathmandu : The death toll in Iran from alcohol poisoning has risen to more than 700. The false belief that toxic methanol cures the corona virus has seen over 700 people killed in Iran.
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.
A spokesman for Iran’s health ministry, Kinoush Jahanpour, said 5,011 people had initially died from alcohol poisoning and 90 later. He added that some 90 people have lost their eye sight or are suffering eye damage from the alcohol poisoning.
In Iran, the government mandates that manufacturers of toxic methanol add and artificial color to their products so the public can tell it apart from ethanol, the kind of alcohol that can be used in cleaning wounds.
Ethanol is found in alcoholic beverages, though its production is illegal in Iran. But after rumors spread that corona could be avoided due to alcohol consumption, many people followed the same rumors and drank heavily.
Methanol cannot distinguished by smell or taste in alcoholic drinks. It can cause delayed organ and brain damage. Symptoms include chest pain nausea, hyperventilation, blindness and even coma.
