AT LEAST 34 people have died and dozens hospitalised in southern India after drinking bootleg alcohol tainted with methanol.

More than 100 people are being treated at various hospitals in the Tamil Nadu state’s Kallakurichi district.

The number of those who are in critical conditions keeps changing, local officials have warned, indicating that the death toll could rise.

Government officials earlier said several people who were vomiting and had stomach pain were admitted to hospitals on Wednesday, triggering a police investigation.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said that those involved in the crime have been arrested, and action has also been taken against officials who failed to prevent it.

Authorities have suspended a senior police official and 10 other officers who oversee the smuggling of illegal alcohol for negligence.

Deaths from illegally brewed liquor are common in India where poorer people cannot afford licenced brands from government-run shops.

In 2022, more than 20 people died in the eastern Bihar state and 28 people in a separate incident in Gujarat.

At least 120 people died in 2020 in the northern Punjab state.