Czech media: “Poland could be the source of poisoning”

Spirits are blanketed over in a Czech bar: photo - EPA/Filip Singer

The Czech Republic's oldest daily Lidove Noviny, outlined in its Monday edition that the source of the poisoning could be Polish windscreen washer fluid.

Vaclav Kucera, chief Czech investigator in the methanol case, confirmed in an interview with the paper that while several leads are being followed, “one version does not rule out that the source of contaminated alcohol was concentrated antifreeze from Poland for cleaning windscreens.”

The newspaper goes on to note how “last year, 77 Poles died as a result of poisoning from such concentrated fluid, and death was reported in 22 cases.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday another Czech media source, nowinky.cz, claimed that a hospitalised couple in the city of Opava had been taken ill after drinking vodka that came from Poland.

Czech police have carried out approximately 70,000 inspections across the country over the last week, and 300 samples have been tested in laboratories.

The sale of alcohol stronger than 20 percent has been banned nationwide. Poland has meanwhile suspended the import or sale of Czech alcohol stronger than 20 percent for a one-month period.

On Sunday, the first cases of poisoning in Slovakia were registered, when eight people were taken to hospital after drinking slivovice (plum brandy) during a family celebration.

A spokesperson from Slovakia's Health Ministry, Zuzana Czizmarikova, stated that the alcohol had been purchased in the Czech Republic. (nh)