akpeteshie
File photo

At least 19 people have been confirmed dead after drinking toxic alcohol at a roadside shop in Morocco’s northern city of Ksar el-Kebir.

Dozens of other people were taken to hospital in critical condition, with two in intensive care, local media reported.

A 48-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the incident. Police are said to have recovered about 50 litres of the alcohol at his store.

Selling alcohol to Muslims is forbidden in Morocco, but it is often discreetly sold in restaurants and stores.

In August, eight people died after drinking contaminated alcohol in the northern Oriental region, and at least 20 died in July last year in a similar incident in Oujda in eastern Morocco.