A 65-year-old man passed away in Kerala’s Kozhikode allegedly after drinking spurious liquor. The incident occurred in Palakkal near Kodencherry and the deceased has been identified as Kolamban of Chemberi colony, according to reports.

Two others have been hospitalised in a critical condition and have been identified as Gopalan and Narayanan. They are receiving treatment at the Government Medical College hospital in Kozhikode. The three of them were working as labourers at a neighbouring estate.

The incident took place on Friday night and the police was informed at 10 pm, according to reports. They reached the spot and took samples of the liquor which was consumed by the three people. The police added that they would be able to ascertain the real cause of the death of the man after testing the samples of liquor.

Spurious alcohol, also known as hooch, can cause serious damage when consumed. In many cases, it can lead to blindness and even death. There are several ways in which spurious alcohol is prepared. Sometimes lack of proper preparation and distillation of alcohol can also create spurious alcohol. In other cases, ethanol is mixed with a small amount of ethanol and this is called spurious alcohol.

Kerala has seen many cases of alcohol poisonings in the past. In 2010, 17 people, including a woman, died in the Malappuram district in the state after consuming spurious toddy in different parts of the district. Five out of the 17 casualties were from Tamil Nadu. The victims had reportedly consumed that alcohol from wine shops in Kuttipuram, Perasannur, Alathiyur, Pullooral, and Vaniyambalam. Most passed away the following day. The presence of Methyl alcohol in the drink is supposed to have caused the deaths.

Following the Malappuram deaths, all toddy shops were closed in the district following protests by the people. The victims had allegedly visited the hospital complaining of tiredness, swooning and loss of sight – which are typical symptoms of methyl alcohol poisoning.