Bootlegged Russian vodka "caused mass poisoning" in Latvia

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday October 31, 2006

Riga- Bootlegged vodka produced in Russia is the probable cause of an outbreak of mass poisoning in eastern Latvia, Latvian authorities confirmed on Tuesday. "According to preliminary information, the toxic alcohol came from a single source. We believe it came to Latvia from Russia," Latvian police spokeswoman Sintija Kajina told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Both Russia and Latvia have been struck by epidemics of poisoning caused by contaminated alcohol in recent days. In the eastern Latvian town of Preili, 59 cases of poisoning have been recorded, with several deaths reported.

Just over the EU's external border, in the Russian city of Pskov, meanwhile, up to 400 people have been hospitalised as a result of drinking alcohol contaminated with furniture polish and disinfectants, and 15 have died, the LETA news agency reported.

And 14 Siberian towns have declared a state of emergency after over 900 locals were hospitalised with liver failure after drinking fake vodka, the BBC reported. The Siberian poisonings are not thought to be linked to the Latvian ones.

Alcohol abuse is a major problem across the former USSR. The Baltic states, which joined the EU in 2004 and are still its poorest countries, are no exception.

Illegally-distilled, home-produced vodka is a regular feature of life in the three countries' deprived and increasingly deserted rural areas. Rising prices for legal spirits - driven partly by an explosion of wealth in urban areas - have exacerbated the situation.

Alcohol smuggling is also a widespread problem, especially along the three countries' borders with Russia and Belarus. Reports of illegal cross-border vodka pipelines regularly surface, with one, unearthed in 2005, made of several miles of garden hose.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency