KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — The latest death toll in the methanol poisoning case — till 12pm yesterday — have risen to 33.

Of the numbers, 20 cases were recorded in Selangor, 10 in Kuala Lumpur, and three in Perak.

Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the Ministry of Health (MoH) have received 87 notifications of methanol poisoning cases from its health facilities since Sept 15.

Those involved were Bangladeshis (10 cases), Indian nationals (3), Myanmar (21), Nepalese (31), Indonesian (1), and Malaysians (17), while the nationalities of four more individuals remain unknown.

"Today, the ministry have only received one new case from Perak, bringing the total methanol poisoning cases in the state to eight. Selangor has 62 cases, Kuala Lumpur has 16 cases, and Negri Sembilan has one case,” he said in a statement today.

Dr Noor Hisham also said that out of all the cases recorded, a patient had been stabilised and discharged while 37 others were still receiving treatments, of which 13 were in critical condition.

"The ministry will continue to monitor the situation, and will take measures to deal with it,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham added that 39 out of 69 clinical samples analysed at Sungai Buloh Hospital’s forensic lab were found to contain methanol.

Up till yesterday, MoH — through its Public Health Division and Food Safety and Quality Division — confiscated 1,816 bottles of alcoholic drinks that violated the Food Act 1983 and Food Regulations 1985 upon conducting checks at premises selling alcoholic drinks.

MoH also urged members of the public with methanol poisoning symptoms within five days of alcohol intake — such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, headache, and vision loss — to immediately seek treatment at any clinics or hospitals.

Section 13 of the Food Act 1983 stated that any person who prepares or sells any food that has, in or upon it, any substance which is poisonous, harmful or otherwise injurious to health, commits an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding RM100,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or both. — Bernama