Three Indian states have banned a cough syrup after at least nine children under 5 died in two months.

At least nine children have died in India in two months after being prescribed cough syrup contaminated with a toxic substance, authorities announced Sunday. The product has been banned in three states across the country.

According to the Federal Ministry of Health, laboratory tests conducted on the syrup swallowed by the victims, all under the age of 5, revealed the presence of diethylene glycol (DEG), a substance that is lethal even in small doses. "The samples analyzed contained quantities of DEG exceeding the permissible limits," the ministry said in a statement released Saturday.

"Other products manufactured by the company have also been banned."

The incriminated batch of syrup was manufactured by the Indian company Sresan Pharma at one of its factories in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. "The sale of this syrup has been banned throughout Madhya Pradesh," announced Mohan Yadav, the chief executive of the state, where the largest number of victims have been recorded. "Other products manufactured by the company have also been banned," he added.

Authorities in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan (west) have also suspended the sale of this syrup, according to press reports. Cough syrups manufactured in India have been implicated in several suspicious deaths related to their consumption around the world in recent years.

In 2022, they were implicated in the deaths of more than 70 children in Gambia, in northwest Africa.