Russia alcohol poisoning kills 26

Six detained for producing and selling alcohol unfit for consumption

A Russian Investigative Committee officer is seen at a storage facility and production site of counterfeit alcohol beverages. Reuters

Twenty-six people have died from alcohol poisoning after consuming locally produced spirits in Russia's Orenburg region, the authorities have reported.

The Investigative Committee of Russia is trying to find out whether alcohol products sold in the region, which is on the border of Kazakhstan about 1,500 kilometres south-east of Moscow, meet safety standards.

Six people were detained for producing and selling alcohol unfit for consumption.

Initial reports put the death toll at nine, the regional ministry told the RIA news agency. Another 28 people are suffering the effects of alcohol poisoning.

The authorities ordered tighter controls on the production and sale of beverages, medicine, perfumes and other liquids containing a high percentage of ethanol after a case of mass alcohol poisoning in Siberia in 2016.