Cough syrup deaths in Pakistan rise to 36

A batch of toxic cough syrup has killed as many as 36 people in Pakistan, officials said. The deaths have come over the past four days, mostly in Gujranwala where 25 people who used the cough syrup have died, News Pakistan reported Saturday. Among those who died was Chaudhry Irfan, a former councilor for Nadi Pur Town. About a dozen medical stores have been shut down by authorities and 8,000 bottles of tainted cough syrup have been seized, said health adviser Khwaja Suleman Rafiq, who visited Gujranwala Friday. The deaths came just over a month after 19 people in Lahore died in November, allegedly from drinking Tyno cough syrup.