(Image: Barranquilla Mayor’s Office)

Nine people have died, and three people are in intensive care after drinking adulterated alcohol in Northern Colombia.

A total of 15 people were poisoned on Tuesday, residents from the neighborhood where the incident happened told the newspaper El Heraldo.

This morning I woke up and was informed that many friends had woken up dead, had died, and according to speculation here in the sector, many of them died from consuming adulterated beverages.

Local

The resident could not determine where the liquor came from, but said that the victims had gathered and had some drinks.

Another person who was at the hospital explained that the victims “arrived with foam at the mouth,” and that “you never know who could have been behind that.”

This is not the first time that people have been poisoned or even died due to the consumption of adulterated alcohol known as cococho in the Caribbean region.

Cococho and other adulterated liquors often come from illegal and unregulated distillation, and from mixing and diluting established drinks.

These clandestine beverages are then sold for cheap to locals who can not afford more.

“Sometimes, in order to save a few pesos, we reach for poor-quality liquor, and that can cause harm,” said a local to El Heraldo.