Illegal spirits containing methanol kill 29 people in Russia

Nine people detained in connection with the deaths in Orenburg region bordering Kazakhstan

Twenty-nine people have died from alcohol poisoning this week in a region near Kazakhstan after consuming locally produced spirits that contained methanol, Russian authorities said.

Investigators looking into the production and sale of the illegal spirits said nine people had been detained in connection with the deaths in the Orenburg region in the southern Urals, 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) south-east of Moscow.