Drinker dies after downing 56 glasses

A BAR owner in Clermont-Ferrand could be accused of causing the death of one of his customers after the 57-year-old man died of alcohol poisoning after drinking 56 “shooters” one after the other.

And the day after he collapsed in the pizza-bar in the suburb of Cébazat where he had been drinking the bar still had his name on its blackboard as the drinks record-holder... “ Record garçons : Renaud, 56 shooters.

Drinking shots is a major binge-drinking phenomenon among young drinkers where they shout "Cul sec !" and see how many 5 or 10cl shot glasses of vodka, rum, tequila or whisky they can down in the fastest time. The bar had a sign saying the previous record was 55.

The man, Renaud P, had gone to the bar at the weekend with his 21-year-old daughter Julie and some of her friends and he had spotted the record notice and decided to go for it after having a few glasses of wine and about a dozen cocktails.

Julie told La Montagne newspaper that he drank around 30 in under a minute and then launched into the others before collapsing off his stool.

She called the SAMU emergency ambulance which took him to the hospital in Clermont-Ferrand where he died the next day without regaining consciousness.

The bar owner told reporters that he had advised Renaud to stop but daughter Julie denies this and says she is considering legal action.

Meanwhile, Clermont-Ferrand deputy prosecutor Laure Lehugeur told journalists that the “simple fact of serving alcohol to a drunken person is against the law” and could lead to charges of involuntary homicide.
Photo: Simon Thomas CC-by-2.0