Police: Indonesia bootleg alcohol deaths exceed 100

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Deaths from drinking toxic bootleg alcohol in Indonesia have exceeded 100 this month, police said on Wednesday as they vowed a "scorched-earth" crackdown on the makers and distributors of black-market liquor.

Deputy National Police Chief Muhammad Syafruddin said the deaths this month have been concentrated in populous West Java and Jakarta, the capital, but there were also cases in South Kalimantan and other regions that bring fatalities to more than 100.

Indonesian TV has broadcast images of distraught relatives in several cities and lines of gurneys bearing dead bodies in hospital hallways as the death toll relentlessly climbed since late last week. There were 31 deaths in Jakarta and satellite cities at the beginning of the month followed by a dramatic surge in hospitalizations and deaths in West Java.