PATNA: Toxic hooch has killed at least 27 people in the eastern Indian state of Bihar where alcohol is banned, officials said on Tuesday, with unconfirmed reports putting the death toll at 40.

Selling and consuming liquor is prohibited in several parts of India, driving a thriving black market for potent and sometimes lethal backstreet moonshine that kills hundreds every year.

Initial investigations into the latest tragedy showed that poisonous methyl alcohol was mixed with a spirit that proved deadly.

Police official Jitender Kumar said that 27 deaths had been reported since Saturday.

Kumar said most of the victims were from poor families and used to consume locally made cheap tipple known as “Desi Daru”. Some local media put the toll at 40.