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)