Indian toxic alcohol 'kills 96'

Most of the victims are poor slum dwellers

At least 96 people are now known to have died in India's Gujarat state after drinking toxic illegal alcohol, police say.

Labourers in the city of Ahmedabad were admitted to hospital on Tuesday after drinking illegal brew on Monday night.

Authorities fear that this might not be the final death toll as dozens more people have been admitted to hospital.

Most of the dead are slum dwellers. Deaths from illegally brewed alcohol are common in South Asia.

Police raided various areas of Ahmedabad after the incident. A number of arrests are reported to have been made and the state government says six police officers have been suspended for negligence.

Last year, about 150 people died from drinking tainted alcohol in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Illegally brewed alcohol is readily found across India and is popular because it is cheap and said to be stronger than legal brews.

But it is often laced with chemicals and pesticides in an attempt to boost its strength and has often caused people to die.

Gujarat is a "dry" state where the sale of alcohol is banned.

It was the home state of India's independence leader, Mohandas Gandhi, who was a strong advocate of prohibition.