Indonesian police arrest brewer after drink kills 14

Indonesian police arrest brewer after drink kills 14Jakarta - Police in Indonesia's Central Java province have arrested a shop owner after 14 people died after drinking a homemade alcohol brew he sold, reports said Tuesday.

The victims - all young men - died after drinking a concoction of 90 per cent alcohol, ginseng, vanilla extract and fermented tea, the Koran Tempo daily quoted police chief Benone Louhenapassy in the provincial capital Semarang as saying.

Another person who consumed the drink was critically ill in hospital, the daily said.

Louhenapassy said the man who made the drink and sold it at his shop had been arrested.

The show owner, identified by his initial Y, told Koran Tempo he had sold the drink for eight years.

"I'm surprised that people have died after drinking my concoction," he was quoted as saying.

Cases of poisoning involving home-made drinks are common in Indonesia, where quality alcoholic beverages are expensive.

In September 12 people died in West Java after drinking home-made alcohol allegedly mixed with methylated spirit and insecticide.

At least 23 died in Jambi province in March after they consumed a locally-produced alcohol brew. (dpa)

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