(UPDATE) NEW DELHI — At least 34 people died and dozens were hospitalized after drinking illegally brewed liquor in southern India, local media reported on Thursday.

M K Stalin, chief minister of Tamil Nadu state, said the 34 died after consuming liquor tainted with methanol, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The incident occurred in the state's Kallakurichi district, where more than 100 people are being treated in various hospitals, top district official M S Prasanth said. He added that the number of those in critical condition kept changing, suggesting that the death toll could rise.

Ambulances, doctors and specialists from nearby areas were deployed to the district.

Government officials earlier said several people who were vomiting and suffered stomach pain were admitted to hospitals on Wednesday, triggering a police investigation.

Later that day, Stalin said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that those involved in brewing the liquor had been arrested, and action has also been taken against officials who failed to prevent it.

"Such crimes that ruin the society will be suppressed with an iron fist," he said.

Deaths from illegally brewed alcohol are common in the South Asian nation, where the poor cannot afford licensed brands from government-run shops.

The illicit liquor, which is often spiked with chemicals such as pesticides to increase potency, has also become highly profitable, as bootleggers pay no taxes and sell enormous quantities of their product to the poor at a cheap price.

In 2022, more than 30 people died in eastern Bihar state after allegedly drinking tainted liquor sold without authorization. Earlier that year, at least 28 died from drinking altered liquor in western Gujarat state. And in 2020, at least 120 people died after drinking tainted liquor in northern Punjab state.