Malvani hooch tragedy: 70% of victims succumbed within first 72 hours

As the Malwani hooch tragedy entered its fourth day, patients were dying by the dozens at city hospitals. Of the 124 people brought to various public and private hospitals, 90 had died by Saturday. Nearly 70 per cent of all the patients, doctors said, have died within 72 hours of consuming the methanol-tainted liquor. The survivors have been receiving treatment at BMC-run Shatabdi, KEM, Nair and Sion hospitals. They are being administered haemodialysis treatment to filter out poisonous substances from their bloodstream. dna spoke to a few victims and their kin:

Prashant Mohite (34) at Nair Hospital

On his bed in ward 22, Prashant Mohite feels pukish all the time. He can't identify anyone as he has lost his vision. His wife Rupali, 30, refuses budge from his bed side. Prashant worked as a daily labourer in Malwani. On June 18, he had gone with his friend Shashikant to fix a leaking roof in the neighbourhood. Rupali says Shashikant lured her husband to drink hooch. By midnight, Shashikant had become critical and was rushed to Shatabdi Hospital. "First, my husband lied to me saying he hadn't had any alcohol. Later, he confessed to drinking country liquor with Shashikant," said Rupali, who makes imitation jewellery at home and earns more than Prashant. "By 4 am on June 19, Prashant started having blackouts and was rushed to the hospital," said Rupali. Later, she braved torrential rains and flooded streets for seven hours to reach the Mumbai Central hospital.

Siddhesh Indulkar (26)

Nair Hospital

Siddhesh Indulkar (26) lost the battle at Nair Hospital on Saturday. His uncle Vikas was seen running helter skelter in an effort to claim his body from the post-mortem centre. A daily labourer at Malwani, Indulkar was a regular at the hooch joints in his neighbourhood. “Siddhesh used to drink every day, come home and create a ruckus. He drank two glasses of 250ml desi daru around 10 pm that night. Within two hours, he started vomiting and his eyes rolled back,” said Vikas, who first rushed him to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivli and later to Nair. Siddhesh’s wife Dipika (24) works as a househelp and the couple has a son and daughter – Vaibhav (5) and Devanshi (6). “Theirs was a love marriage. I tried to convince Siddhesh not to drink after marriage but he would not listen,” said Vikas.