Myanmar national Min Laung Ain, 38, is under intensive care after he was admitted to the hospital at 11pm yesterday, Bernama reported.

His employer A Selva, 52, told reporters after visiting Min Laung, a pile-making factory worker who had worked with him for 15 years, that he had brought a sample of the liquor the victim and his friends consumed for the hospital authorities to check.

“I am puzzled how something so terrible can happen. I understand that the victim and his three friends only drank half of the alcohol in the one-litre container,” Bernama reported him as saying.

He added that he would be lodging a police report on the incident.

Min Laung was one of the 33 victims who had been warded in various hospitals in the Klang Valley due to alcohol poisoning.

Company supervisor S Rajalingam, 39, who brought Min Laung to the hospital, said he was worried as Min Laung initially could talk but fell quiet on the way to the hospital.

“Min Laung would usually meet up with his friends during the weekend and go for drinks,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the suspected alcohol poisoning cases has risen from 15 to 19 as at 5pm today, the health ministry said.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement that the victims showed signs of methanol poisoning.

He said in total, 51 cases had been reported — 45 in Selangor and six in Kuala Lumpur.

“Of the total, three are Malaysian citizens while the rest are foreigners from Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh and India,” he said.

Hisham said 14 patients were in critical condition, nine had been warded for observation and another nine had been allowed to return home.

He said all the victims had a history of drinking compounded hard liquor.

The symptoms for methanol poisoning are stomach ache, nausea, headache, blurred vision, seizures, breathing difficulties and loss of consciousness.

Hisham said the number of cases might increase with more victims coming forward to seek treatment.

He said investigations found that the victims had bought their liquor from shops around Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

“The ministry has lodged a police report to identify the distributor, manufacturer and the cause of the poisoning,” he said.

Hisham advised the public to stay away from alcoholic beverages containing methanol and to seek immediate treatment if they had any of the symptoms of methanol poisoning.

Earlier today, Selangor police chief Mazlan Mansor said the victims were believed to have consumed two types of whisky and a type of beer.

Mazlan said the cases had been classified as sudden death pending a full report on the post-mortems.