Relatives grieving over the deaths in the hooch tragedy at Karunapuram in Kallakurichi town. File
| Photo Credit: S.S. Kumar
The death toll in the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi district rose to 68 with one more person losing his life at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry, on Tuesday, August 6, 2024.
So far, 32 persons have died at the Government Kallakurichi Medical College and Hospital; 22 at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital in Salem; four at the Government Villupuram Medical College and Hospital and ten at JIPMER.
The deaths occurred after residents of Karunapuram, mostly Dalits and others from socially and economically disadvantaged groups, who were daily wage labourers and loaders, consumed methanol-infused hooch from a local bootlegger Govindaraj, alias Kannukutty on the night of June 18.
