Authorities in Russia's Urals region of Orenburg say poisonous surrogate alcohol has left four people dead.
The Investigative Committee's directorate in the region said on September 6 that in addition to the deaths two people were hospitalized and a probe had been launched into the situation.
In October 2021, 64 people were poisoned by surrogate alcohol in towns and villages in the same region, killing 34 and prompting the governor to call on citizens to avoid unlicensed alcoholic beverages.
Poisonings with surrogate alcohol are common in Russia as people look to save money on cheaper drinks.
In December 2016, 78 people died in and around the Siberian city of Irkutsk after drinking a scented herbal bath oil called Boyaryshnik, Russian for hawthorn, which contained methanol, a highly poisonous type of industrial alcohol.