Malaysian authorities have arrested at least nine people during a series of raids in Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley in connection with a recent string of alcohol poisoning deaths.

The first death was reported on Monday night and the toll has risen steadily since. A total of 21 people have now died from drinking tainted alcohol, said the Health Ministry on Tuesday (Sep 19), reports channelnewsasia.com.

Another 36 have taken ill, some of them in critical condition.

‘The number of cases is expected to increase as more patients come in for treatment,’ Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad told a news conference in the administrative capital of Putrajaya.

Five Malaysians were among those affected, while the rest were foreigners from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and Nepal, Dzulkefly added.

He said authorities tested several types of alcoholic drinks and found that some samples contained methanol in higher proportions than authorised.

Symptoms of methanol poisoning include shortness of breath, abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness, severe headaches, blurred vision and stiffness.

‘We are very concerned. This adulterated liquor is secretly made,’ Dzulkefly told reporters. ‘There are unscrupulous people out there seeking to make money by producing these adulterated drinks.’

SHOPS RAIDED

Police raided shops in Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding state of Selangor and seized huge stashes of whisky and beer as they sought to take the tainted alcohol off the market.

Selangor police chief Mazlan Mansor said seven of the arrested suspects were grocery store operators and their employees, including two Myanmar nationals and three Indian nationals.

‘In the raids, at least 1,030 bottles of whiskey and 1,767 cans of beer of various brands were seized.

‘The arrests and seizures were made under Section 135 of the Customs Act,’ he said.

When asked about the possibility that all the shops had obtained their alcohol from the same supplier, Mazlan said the matter is still being investigated.

‘After news of the alcohol poisoning was reported in the media, several grocery shops immediately closed probably because they do not want to be involved or wanted to get rid of the alcoholic drinks that could implicate them,’ he said.

Myanmar national Min Laung Ain, one of the victims who is now in critical condition in hospital, is believed to have bought an alcoholic drink from at a shop in Bangi Lama.

His employer, A Selva, told reporters that the 38-year-old factory worker had shared the alcoholic beverage with several friends.

‘I am puzzled how something so terrible can happen, I understand that the victim and three friends only drank half of the alcohol in the one-litre container,’ he said, adding that he would be lodging a police report on the incident.