--- description: 46 others are still in the hospital title: Death Toll in Mumbai Moonshine Tragedy Rises to 97 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5dd6c8520c0c7784/69885582e53aba4eba4de473/gettyimages-477865870.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 97 People Now Dead in India's Mumbai Moonshine Tragedy; 7 Under Arrest by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 22, 2015 3:42 AM CUT  Family members carry the body of a victim of toxic homemade liquor consumption in Mumbai on June 20, 2015 Family members carry the body of a victim of toxic homemade liquor consumption in Mumbai on June 20, 2015Punit Paranjpe—AFP/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 22, 2015 3:42 AM CUT The moonshine tragedy that killed dozens of people in the Indian city of Mumbai last week claimed several more lives over the weekend, with the death toll [rising to 97](http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/death-toll-climbs-to-94-in-mumbai-hooch-tragedy/ "undefined") as of Sunday night. Some 46 others are still undergoing treatment at various hospitals around the sprawling business hub, while police have arrested a total of seven people and seized more than 1,000 L of the illicit liquor from one of their houses, the _Indian Express_ reported. Two women were taken into custody on Sunday in addition to the five arrests made a week ago in response to the [first 25 deaths](http://time.com/3927889/mumbai-hooch-malad-slum-25-dead/ "undefined"). They face various charges pertaining to the running of drinking dens at a slum in Mumbai’s Malad area. Dhananjay Kulkarni, Mumbai’s deputy commissioner of police (detection), told the _Express_ that both women used to buy the alcohol from a man named Francis D’Mello — one of the initial suspects currently being interrogated about his source and supply network — before reselling it. It was at D’Mello’s house that the police reportedly found around 1,100 L of the liquor in several barrels. “The sheer quantity of the liquor suggests a large-scale and highly organized racket, and we are probing further,” an officer said. Such incidents are [surprisingly common](http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/timeline-major-hooch-tragedies-india "undefined") in India, where illegal liquor with high quantities of toxic methanol is typically consumed by blue-collar workers like laborers and taxi drivers. The only liquor-related tragedy in the past decade worse than this week’s wave of fatalities [occurred in 2011](http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/16/world/asia/india-moonshine-deaths/ "undefined"), when at least 168 villagers in the eastern state of West Bengal died after consuming poisonous moonshine. The last such incident to take place in Mumbai [claimed 87 lives](http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/19-jailed-for-2004-vikhroli-hooch-tragedy/article1-846837.aspx "undefined") in the suburb of Vikhroli in late 2004. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3929660/mumbai-moonshine-hooch-tragedy-97-dead-india/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3929660/mumbai-moonshine-hooch-tragedy-97-dead-india/"},"headline":"97 People Now Dead in India's Mumbai Moonshine Tragedy; 7 Under Arrest","datePublished":"2015-06-22T03:42:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:23:41.545Z","description":"Forty-six others remain in the hospital","url":"https://time.com/3929660/mumbai-moonshine-hooch-tragedy-97-dead-india/","keywords":["liquor","India","police","Arrests","Dead","Mumbai"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5dd6c8520c0c7784/69885582e53aba4eba4de473/gettyimages-477865870.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5dd6c8520c0c7784/69885582e53aba4eba4de473/gettyimages-477865870.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"INDIA-HEALTH-CRIME-ALCOHOL","caption":"INDIA-HEALTH-CRIME-ALCOHOL","creditText":"Punit Paranjpe—AFP/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":"https://time.com/3929660/mumbai-moonshine-hooch-tragedy-97-dead-india/","name":"97 People Now Dead in India's Mumbai Moonshine Tragedy; 7 Under Arrest"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"In Mumbai, Wrestling to Be a Cop","description":"Young men, many who want to be police officers, get in shape by practicing an old form of wrestling popular among India's lower classes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gSAyigzG/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-10-11T13:06:02.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gSAyigzG.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3929660/mumbai-moonshine-hooch-tragedy-97-dead-india/","duration":"PT4M25S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3929660/mumbai-moonshine-hooch-tragedy-97-dead-india/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```