ITAR-TASS News Agency, Moscow, 22 January 1997

Asian News Briefs

NEW DELHI -- Thirty-four inhabitants of Haidarabad died after drinking spirits during the holy Moslem month of Ramadan. Reports say 14 people died at once and another 20 died in hospitals after drinking home-made liquids.

The shop owner who sold the drinks was arrested and is likely to be sentenced to corporal punishment in public in keeping with the prohibition law.