According to the news agency, the chief minister of the state, M K Stalin, said that they had drunk alcohol laced with methanol.
A state government spokeswoman stated on Thursday that over 100 patients with vomiting, stomachaches, and diarrhea had been hospitalized to hospitals in the Kallakurichi area since Wednesday, and over 60 of them were still receiving treatment.
At least ten district officials have been suspended in response to the incident, including the police head.
A video from the Reuters-owned news agency showed medical staff transporting patients in ambulances, while another from the same agency showed a number of people waiting outside a mortuary.
Senior state official M. S. Prasanth told the news that the number of those designated as critically ill is constantly changing, indicating that the death toll may go up.
Doctors, specialists, and ambulances from surrounding areas have been sent to the district.
Authorities say they have found 200 liters of the alcoholic beverage combined with methanol and have arrested a 49-year-old man called Govindaraj for selling it illegally.
