Moonshine kills at least 94 in Mumbai slum

Toxic homemade liquor has killed at least 94 slum dwellers in Mumbai, with more than 45 in hospital, police said on Sunday, in the latest disaster involving moonshine.

People carry the body of a victim who died after consuming bootleg liquor at a slum in Mumbai, June 20, 2015.

A relative sits inside an ambulance with the body of a victim who died after consuming bootleg liquor at a cremation ground in Mumbai, June 20, 2015.

Sun Jun 21, 2015

Police have arrested five people in connection with the deaths in a western neighbourhood of the city, on the west coast of India, which started on Wednesday.

"More than 150 have consumed this alcohol. The death toll may rise," said Dhananjay Kulkarni, Mumbai's deputy police commissioner, adding that eight police officials had been suspended for suspected negligence.

Homemade liquor, often using poisonous industrial methanol, is popular among the poor in India because it is cheap. More than 140 people were killed in West Bengal in 2011 from drinking homemade liquor.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi and Rafael Nam; Editing by Nick Macfie)