Iranians die of alcohol poisoning after virus rumourpublished at 11:00 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2020
BBC Monitoring
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A total of 36 Iranians have died of alcohol poisoning after consuming doctored alcohol in Ahvaz, the capital of south-western Khuzestan province, the official Irna news agency reports.
The report said that "consuming fake alcohol has occurred due to the spread of rumours that drinking alcohol would prevent the coronavirus infection".
In an interview with Irna, Dr Ali Ehsanpour, spokesman of Ahvaz Jondi Shapur University of Medical Sciences, said: "Some people in Ahvaz suffered alcohol poisoning after drinking fake alcohol [either local moonshine or methanol]. So far 270 have been admitted to the county's hospitals for treatment."
Irna went on to quote Ali Biranvand, deputy public prosecutor of the province, as saying seven individuals had been arrested for selling fake alcoholic drinks.