Eighteen people died after drinking mixed alcohol

This is the second such case in the country since the beginning of October.

The site of a massacre in Ekaterinburg in recent weeks. Russian authorities on Saturday launched an investigation into the death of 18 people in the Urals city after they were found drunk with alcohol, the second such tragedy in two weeks in the country.

According to the Investigative Committee in charge of major criminal cases, “in the last two weeks, many people have been selling alcohol, which is dangerous to the lives and health of citizens.”

“As a result of consuming this liquid, 18 people died,” he said in a statement, adding that two people had been arrested.

An investigation has been opened into a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison for “selling goods of substandard quality and causing death due to negligence”.

Russian disaster

In early October, at least 36 people died after drinking methanol-laced alcohol in the Orenburg region.

In Russia, where 21 million people live below the poverty line, it is not uncommon for dangerous incidents involving the consumption of blended alcohol or toxic alternatives.

The price of vodka sold in stores may be banned for millions of unsupported Russians, especially in provinces with very low living standards.

Lacking enough material, the poor turn to cosmetics, cleaning products or car antifreeze to get alcohol.

In 2016, more than 60 people were killed after consuming bath oil following the Hawthorn petrol brand in Irkutsk, Siberia, and the ethanol poison was replaced by methanol. Russian authorities tightened the law after the incident.