CTK, Aktualne.cz

Health Minister Heger bans all sales of hard liquor to fight recent wave of methanol poisoning deaths

UPDATE - The ban on sale of hard liquor in the Czech Republic announced Friday will last "days", said Czech Health Minister Leos Heger in a short interview with Aktualne.cz.

Heger added that the new radical measure had been partially prompted by Friday's discovery of the first case of methanol poisoning in the capital city.

The minister also said that the number of poisonings will further increase.

Here is the original article from Friday 14 September 20:05 CET:

Prague - Czech Health Minister Leos Heger announced a new extraordinary measure Friday eveninig to fight a recent wave of alcohol poisoning in the Czech Republic that has left at least 19 people dead after drinking bootleg alcohol laced with highly-toxic methanol in the last two weeks.

Heger declared a ban on all sale of liquor with more than 20 percent of alcohol at restaurants and stores. The measure came into effect immediately.

The new decree replaced a two-day old measure banning sale of alcohol at street kiosks.

The minister said that the new measure is based on the fact that most of the victims had obtained the poisoned alcohol from stores or restaurants, not street kiosks, adding that he expects the decree to be in effect for several days.

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Some experts warn that this move will only cripple the legal market and boost the black market with alcohol.

The announcement came several hours after a new case of methanol poisoning was reported from Prague, where a 30-year old man was hospitalized after drinking alcohol bought from a store. The man was put into coma and is reportedly in critical conditions

Most of the previous cases of fatal methanol poisoning had taken place in smaller cities, mostly in northern Moravia.

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