12 drink their way to death

12 drink their way to death

YOGYAKARTA: Cheap homemade alcoholic drinks available at
roadside stalls here have claimed 12 lives this month as they
gain in popularity among the jobless and blue-collar workers.

The problem is posing a headache for the police in this city,
which is known as one of the country's intellectual centers.

Police said the drinks were sold as jamu, or traditional
herbal medicine, under the name Super Lapen, Antara said.

On Tuesday and Wednesday alone, five people aged between 31
and 40, died after drinking too much of the beverage. One of
those was a 35-year-old woman, police said.

Yogyakarta police detectives chief Lt. Col. Erwin TPL Tobing
said Wednesday officers were busy investigating the deaths of the
first seven people who had drunk themselves when they received
the report of the latest fatalities.

Tobing said police cracked down on roadside vendors selling
the deadly drinks last year but, undeterred by the police
operation, the traders in death have returned to the streets.

Residents said the traders were "very clever" at evading the
police. They reportedly put the killer cocktail in Coca Cola,
Fanta or Sprite bottles and sell it as the soft drinks. (pan)