25 Russians died from drinking shower gel instead of wine

Forty-two people were poisoned, 25 of them died, after drinking a shower gel containing methylated spirit in the hope it would give them the same feeling as strong alcohol.

The Russian police investigation agency in the city of Irkutsk, Siberia, said today that 42 men were hospitalized due to shower gel poisoning, 25 of whom died, according to Reuters.

Police have arrested two people distributing the shower gel. The product has a warning on the label not to drink, but people who drink it ignore it and drink it like alcohol, because the cheap shower gel contains methyl alcohol.

It is suspected that the sellers marketed the product as a cheaper alternative to vodka. The use of cheap counterfeits is becoming increasingly common in remote areas of Russia, as the price of genuine vodka continues to rise.

"Police are searching the markets where the shower gel was first seized. More than 100 points of sale have been identified," Irkutsk city police said.

The Russian news agency Interfax said the death toll from poisoning with the shower gel had risen to 33. Stanislav Zubovsky, a local prosecutor, said the death toll would rise as police continued to search residential areas.

According to VNE