Hooch toll climbs to 107 in West Bengal

Spurious liquor claimed 50 more lives Thursday morning in South 24 Parganas district, taking the death toll in one of the worst hooch tragedies in West Bengal to 107. Another 50 people were battling for their lives in several hospitals including some in Kolkata after drinking the toxic brew, pti reported quoting official sources as said. The figure was reported from various hospitals since early morning, they said. Most of the dead were poor laborers, rickshaw-pullers and hawkers, who fell ill after consuming spurious liquor from several illegal joints on December 14. Post-mortem of all the 107 bodies have been done and the bodies were handed over to the families of the victims. The state government yesterday announced a compensation of Rs two lakh each to the families of the deceased.