Poisonous hooch liquor kills 23 in Nicaragua

LEON, Nicaragua, Sep 9 (Reuters) An adulterated batch of moonshine cane liquor has killed 23 people in Nicaragua, the government said, and dozens more with symptoms of poisoning flooded an overstretched hospital.

Patients overflowed from run-down wards in the public hospital in the city of Leon yesterday, about 90 km northwest of the capital Managua.

About 90 people were being treated for poisoning. Several were in critical condition and hooked up to ventilators. Others were transferred to the capital Managua.

Like many victims, carpenter Benito Figueroa was treated on a stretcher in a peeling cockroach-ridden corridor. He said he didn't stop a month-long drinking binge even after hearing what had happened.

''I knew the drunks were dying but I didn't care, and now all my friends are gone,'' said Figueroa, 28, with tubes in his nose and wrist. ''If I'm spared, I'll never drink again.

The sale of home-distilled alcohol is legal in Nicaragua and widespread in rural areas. Most of those killed were poor, although one doctor from Leon hospital died.

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.

Lacking medicine, exhausted nurses gave patients shots of high proof fine Nicaraguan rum. Alcohol serves as an antidote to the poisoning.

''We can't take much more,'' said nurse Angela Salinas. ''We're hungry and short of medicines.'' Outside, crowds of men and women of all ages terrified they drunk the bad booze jostled to be admitted to the hospital, while a small group of evangelical Christians loudly prayed.

Police have closed down several vendors of homemade liquor and confiscated 20,000 liters to prevent further incidents.

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 AB VV1159