Mass Fatality Due to Methyl Alcohol Intoxication

Mass intoxication due to methanol is often heard from all parts of the world. Methanol is highly toxic substance that associated with over 25% fatality rate, irrespective of the treatment. The present article reviews clinical and pathological findings observed during clinical forensic examinations of twelve victims and five fatalities due to mass methanol intoxications. Blurred vision was observed in 11 patients including five cases with permanent loss of vision. Eight patients showed hypoxic changes. Nausea and vomiting were observed in seven cases. Urine samples obtained from all our victims during 12 -24 hours of the incident showed traces of Methanol, Formic acid and Formaldehyde. The presence of above substances in association with characteristic clinico-pathological findings including permanent visual defects are confirmatory of methanol intoxication. However, authors were unable to correlate plasma formic acid and formaldehyde levels to pathological findings as no blood samples were obtained during early stages of management in medical wards.