Toxic alcohol kills 27 in Pakistan

Twenty-seven people have died in the Pakistani city of Karachi after drinking poisonous bootleg alcohol, police said today.

Twenty-seven people have died in the Pakistani city of Karachi after drinking poisonous bootleg alcohol, police said today.

Another eleven are being treated in hospital, and three police officers have been suspended for failing to stop the sale of the homemade liquor, a police spokesman said.

Alcohol is heavily restricted in Muslim Pakistan. A few shops are allowed to operate, although they only sell to non-Muslims, and even those must close during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.