Kuwait City, August 15, 2025 — Toxic alcohol has killed 13 migrant workers in Kuwait and blinded 21 others.
The Ministry of Health confirmed the deaths on Friday. The victims drank methanol-laced liquor over the past five days. Doctors rushed 50 people into emergency kidney dialysis. Another 31 needed ventilators to breathe.
All victims were expatriates from Asian countries working in Kuwait. Kuwait banned alcohol in 1964. The law forbids import, production and sale. Yet an illegal alcohol market operates in secret. Many of these drinks contain dangerous chemicals.
Methanol, used in industry, can cause blindness, organ failure and death.
Police have opened a criminal investigation. They are tracking the source of the poisoned liquor and the people who sold it.