Bootleg liquor kills 80 people in eastern India

A tainted batch of bootleg liquor killed at least 80 people and sent dozens more to the hospital in villages outside the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, officials said. Day laborers and other poor workers began falling ill late Tuesday after drinking the brew that was laced with the toxic methanol around the village of Sangrampur, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Kolkata.

Police arrested four people in connection with making and distributing the toxic booze, said police official Surajit Kar Purkayastha. By Thursday morning the death toll had skyrocketed to at least 80, and 74 remained hospitalized. (AP)