Nearly 300 people are reported to have been killed and more than 1,000 have become ill after ingesting toxic methanol across Iran amid rumours it can help cure coronavirus.
In the Islamic Republic, drinking alcohol is banned, and those who do drink rely on bootleggers. Stories about fake remedies for coronavirus have spread across social media in Iran, where people remain deeply suspicious of the government after it downplayed the crisis for days before it overwhelmed the country.
Dr Knut Erik Hovda, a clinical toxicologist in Oslo who studies methanol poisoning, fears Iran's outbreak could be even worse than reported. "The virus is spreading and people are just dying off, and I think they are even less aware of the fact that there are