Deadly Cocktails Leave Six Dead in South Jakarta

The Jakarta Globe, October 13, 2013.


Six people died in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, after mixing cheap bottles of liquor with a variety of substances, including painkillers and mosquito repellant, during a Wednesday night binge.

The latest death occurred early Sunday morning as Herman, 34, died at the UKI Hospital, in Cawang, shortly after midnight. He was the sixth person to die from poisoning after a night of drinking the bizarre mixture with friends in Pasar Minggu.

“There are six people dead, all from mixing alcohol [with other substances],” Pasar Minggu Police chief Cmr. Adri Desas Furyanto said.

The friends allegedly gathered on Wednesday outside an electronics shop on Jalan Raya Pasar Minggu to start a night of drinking. The ten people had purchased bottles of “Mansion” or “Vodka” brand liquor from a warung, Adri said.

As they drank, the group moved to a nearby drugstore, mixing mosquito repellant lotion, four packages of Tramadol HCL, two bottles of Big Cola soda, one bottle of Kratingdaeng (Red Bull) energy drink and ten bottles of alcohol into a dangerous cocktail. The party eventually ended at Cafe Blue Diamond, in Pejaten Timur, where an additional six beers were consumed.

That night the victim began to vomit yellow liquid, Adri said. They developed a fever and blurry vision. The first victim died on Thursday. By Sunday, six people in total died from poisoning.

Deaths from tainted alcohol are common in Indonesia, where unscrupulous distillers mix alcohol with methanol to make a cheap, but toxic home brew. Tourist deaths routinely make international headlines, especially from the boozy island of Gili Trawangan — ground zero for many of the tourist fatalities.

It is unknown if this alcohol contained toxic amounts of methanol or if the men died from consuming mosquito repellant and quantities of painkillers instead. A police investigation is ongoing, Adri said. They are attempting to track down the alcohol’s seller.



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