Two People Died, 4 Others Poisoned By Cider In Russia's Nizhny Novgorod - Watchdog

NIZHNY NOVGOROD (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th June, 2023) Two people died and another four were poisoned after drinking surrogate cider in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Region, national consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said on Tuesday.

"In total, six cases of poisoning from the said beer drink were registered in the region, two of which were fatal," Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement.

The watchdog said it had received information that cases were connected with the Mister Sidr (Mr. Cider) drink manufactured in the western Russian region of Samara.

"A sanitary and epidemiological investigation has been launched to establish the causes of the incident. Measures are being taken to identify and withdraw products from circulation," the statement read.

Rospotrebnadzor urged citizens not to drink Mister Sidr until all details are clarified.

Additionally, officials told Sputnik that the number of victims of poisoning in the Samara Region increased to seven, another 13 people are currently in hospital.

Earlier in the day, the Health Ministry of the Ulyanovsk Region of Russia said the death toll from cider poisoning in the region rose to 18.

Rospotrebnadzor's head Anna Popova said on Monday that she instructed all regional departments to find and remove from circulation all Mister Sidr products. Police in the Samara Region said that they detained a truck with a delivery invoice for 18,000 liters of alcoholic beverages under the Mister Sidr brand and a search was being carried out at the address of the warehouse indicated in the documents. The head of the drink manufacturing firm was detained.