Poisonous hooch liquor kills 22 in Nicaragua

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Sep 9 (Reuters) A bad batch of home distilled moonshine liquor has killed at least 22 people in Nicaragua and more deaths are feared, emergency services said.

About 90 people were being treated for poisoning in a hospital in the city of Leon, about 90 km northwest of the capital Managua, where most of the alcohol seems to have been distributed.

''We are receiving frequent calls about new cases,'' said emergency worker Eleazar Eugarrios yesterday. ''It's awful ... we presume more people will die.'' Eugarrios said extra ambulances had arrived from Managua to help manage the crisis. Several people were sent to the capital for treatment after the local hospital ran out of beds.

The sale of home-distilled alcohol is legal in Nicaragua and widespread in rural areas. Most of those killed were poor, although Nicaraguan television reported that one was a doctor.

The bad batch was mixed with methanol, a poisonous liquid which, when ingested, can cause organ damage within hours and lead to blindness and death from respiratory failure.

Leon's mayor temporarily banned the sale of all alcohol. Police have closed down several vendors of homemade liquor and confiscated 5,000 liters (1,320 U S gallons) to prevent further incidents of poisoning.

A similar methanol poisoning epidemic killed at least 120 people in the neighboring country of El Salvador in 2000, forcing a 10-day nationwide drinking ban.

REUTERS AD RN0417