Tainted festival brew leaves 24 dead in Ecuador

The death toll in Ecuador from a poisonous batch of home-brewed alcohol reached 24 on Tuesday, health authorities said. At least another 105 people in four rural municipalities were taken to the hospital after they reportedly drank the tainted brew.

Ecuadorian authorities have asked people not to drink any traditional high-alcohol-content liquor, known as chancaca or cincuentón while the government imposed a ban on alcohol sales in certain areas until midnight Wednesday.

Still, there were people who defied the ban, including a large group of mourners during the funeral for one of the victims in the town of Ricaurte, Azuay state on Tuesday. "If they die, it is their own fault," said Jimmy Morán, whose brother Carlos was one of 21 victims in Ricaurte who died over the weekend from drinking the concoction, the Quito daily Hoy reported.

Many of the victims had attended a festival over the weekend, and police have arrested one person.

According to health authorities, the alcohol was tainted with some type of solvent, such as paint cleaner or another toxic substance, to increase the drink's potency.

"There are people who don't want to report that their loved ones have died from poisoning," said one resident who had a family member ill at a local hospital.