--- title: More People Have Died In Russia After Drinking Bath Lotion description: At least 58 people in Russia have died as a result of consuming a bath lotion containing toxic methanol according to local media reports canonical: https://time.com/4608782/russia-bath-lotion-alcohol-drinking-siberia-irkutsk/ author: Joseph Hincks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-21T06:32:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:25:10.045Z article:section: World og:title: More People Have Died In Russia After Drinking Bath Lotion og:description: 58 have now died with fears the toll could rise og:url: https://time.com/4608782/russia-bath-lotion-alcohol-drinking-siberia-irkutsk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6cc92ff66b56b3c/6988b3a5524fc00155dfa91a/gettyimages-630300928.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: People Poisoned Themselves With Hawthorn Infusion In Hospital. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: More People Have Died In Russia After Drinking Bath Lotion twitter:description: 58 have now died with fears the toll could rise twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6cc92ff66b56b3c/6988b3a5524fc00155dfa91a/gettyimages-630300928.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # More People Have Died in Russia After Drinking Bath Lotion by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Dec 21, 2016 6:32 AM CUT  People who poisoned themselves with fake alcohol-containing liquid 'Boyaryshnik' (Hawthorn infusion) get medical treatment at the intensive care unit of Irkutsk City Clinical Hospital on December 20, 2016. People who poisoned themselves with fake alcohol-containing liquid 'Boyaryshnik' (Hawthorn infusion) get medical treatment at the intensive care unit of Irkutsk City Clinical Hospital on December 20, 2016.Matrena Bizikova—Kommersant/Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Dec 21, 2016 6:32 AM CUT Fifty-eight people in Russia have now died as a result of consuming a bath lotion containing toxic methanol, the BBC reported Tuesday [citing](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38384892 "undefined") local media — an increase on the earlier figure of 49 victims. A further 37 people who became ill after drinking as little as one shot of the hawthorn-scented bath oil are still receiving treatment, with some in serious condition. There are fears the death toll could continue to rise. According to the _Siberian Times_, Irkutsk region health minister Oleg Yaroshenko said that almost half of the survivors were not expected to live. “They came to \[the\] doctors too late … Only a miracle can save them,” he [told](http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0827-55-dead-and-26-more-poisoned-the-toll-of-fake-alcohol-outbreak/ "undefined") the newspaper, which referred to the mass poisoning as “the worst such case in modern Russian history.” It also said that many of the poisoning victims had died in their homes because the toxin had taken effect too rapidly for them to call emergency services. Up to 12 million people across the former Soviet Union consume household products like antifreeze and window cleaner as a cheap surrogate for alcohol, analysts say. The situation has been exacerbated by two years of Western economic sanctions. In most cases, such products are labeled with a warning that they are dangerous to consume. But the label on the bath lotion listed the ingredient ethyl alcohol instead of the deadly methanol. Seven people have been arrested in connection with the poisoning, the _Times_ reports. \[[BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38384892 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4608782/russia-bath-lotion-alcohol-drinking-siberia-irkutsk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4608782/russia-bath-lotion-alcohol-drinking-siberia-irkutsk/"},"headline":"More People Have Died in Russia After Drinking Bath Lotion","datePublished":"2016-12-21T06:32:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:25:10.045Z","description":"The label listed the product as containing ethyl alcohol, instead of deadly methanol","url":"https://time.com/4608782/russia-bath-lotion-alcohol-drinking-siberia-irkutsk/","keywords":["russia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6cc92ff66b56b3c/6988b3a5524fc00155dfa91a/gettyimages-630300928.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6cc92ff66b56b3c/6988b3a5524fc00155dfa91a/gettyimages-630300928.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"People Poisoned Themselves With Hawthorn Infusion In Hospital.","caption":"People Poisoned Themselves With Hawthorn Infusion In Hospital.","creditText":"Matrena Bizikova—Kommersant/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4608782/russia-bath-lotion-alcohol-drinking-siberia-irkutsk/","name":"More People Have Died in Russia After Drinking Bath Lotion"}}]}] ```