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| Iranian authorities seize alcohol |
Hundreds of people were rushed to area hospitals after drinking poisonous alcoholic beverages, according to hospital officials in Iran.
Seven people have died, some went blind and 300 were sickened, apparently after consuming illegally distilled alcohol in the southern Iranian city of Rafsanjan.
Local hospitals were filled with patients complaining of vision loss and other symptoms consistent with alcohol intoxication.
All the victims were young men. "All those who died were men younger than 27 years," Doctor Hamid Najmedin of the Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences said.
Seventy-five people in Rafsanjan and 109 people in other parts of the province of Kerman were rushed to hospitals, but were later released from the hospital.
Local doctors said the victims were drinking beverages that contained high levels of methanol, a simple alcohol used as antifreeze and biofuel, mixed with energy drinks.
Alcohol is strictly prohibited and is considered a sin in Iran, offenders face public lashes punishment, according to Iran's Islamic laws. Those who abuse alcohol may even be sentenced to death.