Eleven people have died and ten more have been left in a critical condition after drinking a dangerous batch of homemade booze in Colombia.
Many of the dead were homeless individuals from the city of Barranquilla, who are known to consume ‘cochoco’ – a cheap but often deadly cocktail of ethyl alcohol, methanol and other substances that is sold in reused plastic bottles for about 50 cents.
According to a Colombia One report, the alert was raised during the early morning hours of September 24 when Barranquilla police responded to an emergency involving a man found unconscious on the street.
After being attended to by medics, it was confirmed that the 47-year-old, had died.
Toxicologist Agustin Guerrero described the gravity of the situation while also confirming the first four deaths: ‘The patients were brought by law enforcement to the General Hospital of Barranquilla in very critical condition.
‘The first one arrived practically without vital signs, and despite resuscitation efforts, he died. That alerted all of us attending physicians, because he had come from the Boliche area’.
However, shortly after, more people began arriving with the same symptoms. Two individuals were hospitalised without vital signs and medics later confirmed their deaths.
Later, more patients were admitted in serious condition and ‘required intubation, advanced resuscitation procedures, and immediate transfer to intensive care,’ according to the medical report.
Eleven people have died and ten more have been left in a critical condition after drinking a dangerous batch of homemade booze in Colombia. Pictured: A Barranquilla’s Health Secretariat inspector checks a liquor bottle at the Boliche area in Barranquilla, Colombia on September 25, 2025
A man holds a bottle with ‘cococho,’ a cheap, adulterated liquor, at the Boliche area in Barranquilla, Colombia on September 25, 2025
Many of the dead were homeless individuals from the city of Barranquilla (pictured), who are known to consume ‘cochoco’
Ever Carabello, the nephew of one of the deceased, said his uncle consumed it ‘every day,’ adding ‘honestly, we never thought this would happen to him.’
The drink’s maker is among those who died, and police say the liquor was produced in ‘deplorable,’ unsanitary conditions.
According to Guerrero, methanol poisoning ‘may have an immediate onset or appear hours after ingestion, which often makes early detection difficult.’
He went on to explain that ‘the first symptoms are often mistaken for severe drunkenness: intense headache, a hangover stronger than usual, and general discomfort.
‘As hours pass, more serious manifestations may appear, such as blurred vision, temporary or permanent blindness, light sensitivity, and metabolic acidosis, which can endanger the patient’s life,’ he added.
In Colombia, cheap homemade liquor is commonly consumed by those living in extreme poverty.
But behind the illegal practice lies a criminal network seeking quick profits by using substances such as methanol instead of ethanol, which turns every counterfeit bottle into a potential poison.
Methanol is a type of alcohol which is toxic and flammable, used as fuel or in cleaning products. It is similar to ethanol, which is used for alcoholic drinks but is generally more expensive and is more dangerous to humans due to the way it is processed within the body.
It comes after a woman died alongside her fiance after drinking poisoned limoncellos in Vietnam.
Greta Otteston, 33, and Arno Quinton, 36, were found dead on Boxing Day in Hoi An as a result of methanol poisoning.
Just hours after drinking the limoncello, Greta told her parents that she had a terrible hangover and was seeing black spots.
Her parents and a friend told her to seek medical help, but she brushed off their suggestions and said she was going to lie down instead.
On Boxing Day, Greta and Arno were found dead in separate rooms of their villa. Post mortem examinations found the couple died from severe methanol poisoning.
The barman who allegedly made the limoncello was arrested in February and is currently being held without charge.
He was arrested on suspicion of ‘violating regulations on food safety’ by ‘using used 70-degree medical grade alcohol, along with filtered water, lemon peel and white sugar to create two bottles of limoncello’.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .