4 Russian Sailors Die After Drinking Bootleg Booze

Four crew members of a Russian ship anchored off Borneo island died and three others are seriously ill after drinking homemade Indonesian alcohol, police said today. Authorities were searching for a local man they believe sold liquor mixed with a homemade brew. Three men were found dead yesterday on the ship, the Captain Kurbatskiy. Four other crew members suffered from breathing problems, dizziness, and vomiting and were rushed to a hospital. One, a woman, died shortly after arriving at the hospital.

The ship, with 24 crew members, is in Indonesian waters to take on a cargo of iron ore from a port near the Borneo city of Banjarmasin. Last year, three Russian engineers who were in Indonesia to assemble fighter jets bought from Russia died at an air force base after suddenly falling ill. Autopsies found they had consumed rubbing alcohol. (More Indonesia stories.)