“Of the total deaths caused by alcohol poisoning in Mazandaran, 18 are men, and the rest are women,” Iran’s state IRNA news agency reported, citing Ali Abbasi, the general director of forensics in the province.
The death toll has continued to rise throughout the past week, with state media initially reporting multiple patients arriving at the Chalus and Amol city hospitals on September 30.
"Since last week, after the first case of poisoning due to the consumption of counterfeit alcohol was reported, 284 people have visited medical centers,” Rasul Zafarmand, the medical director at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences said on Monday.
Iranian authorities have arrested five individuals in connection to the incident, "Four of whom have been sent to prison on charges of intentional murder, while one person has been released on bail." Mazandaran judiciary official Abbas Pouriani said on Wednesday.
Consuming alcohol is illegal in Iran, with the government usually cracking down on “illegal” alcohol vendors, pushing some Iranians to resort to consuming counterfeit booze, which sometimes leads to severe cases of alcohol poisoning and deaths.
In September 2023, Iran’s judiciary sentenced four people to death for selling bootleg alcohol.. They allegedly sold contaminated alcohol that killed 17 people and sent dozens to hospital months later.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, at least 210 Iranians died after consuming counterfeit alcohol, believing that it could cure the deadly disease.