ANKARA

At least 16 people have died while three others lost their eyesight after drinking ethanol, a liquid used to make alcoholic beverages, in Papua New Guinea, local media reported on Monday.

People drank Methanol-Ethanol mix after it leaked from five drums at the Coffee Institute Corporation center in Aiyura area of Eastern Highlands’ Kainantu town on Sept. 10.

Dr Enename Susuke, acting chief medical administrator of Kainantu Rural Hospital, told daily The National that around 240 people were found to have drunk the ethanol who felt uneasy and rushed to local hospitals.