Seven people have died from poisoning after they started drinking hand sanitiser when they ran out of alcohol at a party.
The group of nine drank the antiseptic hand wash at a party on Thursday in Tomtor village in the Yakutia region of Russia.
The first three victims were a 41-year-old woman and two men aged 27 and 59, while six others were flown by a medical evacuation aircraft to regional capital Yakutsk.
On Friday three more men, aged 28, 32 and 69, had also died.
One more death was reported today, although their age and sex has not yet been released, while the other two remain in the intensive care unit.
Federal public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor reported: “Nine cases of poisoning with sanitiser have been registered, including seven that were fatal.”
The regional state prosecutor said: “The poisoning took place as a result of drinking sanitiser.”
The germ-fighting liquid was 69 per cent methanol, an extremely toxic substance that can cause blindness, vomiting and death if ingested.
It had been sold as a hand cleanser during the pandemic.
A criminal case has been opened, meanwhile local health officials have warned locals not to drink the antiseptic.