A 42-year-old man died in a bar in the Brazilian city of Santo António do Rio Verde, in the interior of the state of Goiás, after accepting and winning a challenge by drinking a bottle of brandy. A man who worked in agriculture died after completing a task and drinking a liter of strong cachaça, a Brazilian brandy made from sugar cane, which is usually between 41 and 45 degrees ABV.
Witnesses said the farmer had been drinking with friends at a bar for several hours when they challenged him to show that he was still capable of drinking a liter of cachaça. Against the warnings of several other customers, who warned him that he could get sick and even die if he accepted the challenge, the man drank the entire contents of the bottle to the euphoric cries and applause of the other part of those around him.
After winning the challenge, the man walked to the sidewalk of the bar and lay down on the floor to the laughter and comments of those present. Only some time later, when it turned out that he had been immobile for too long, some visitors to the establishment tried to pick him up and found that he was already dead.
The military police (public security) was called and confirmed the death and notified the farmer’s family, but the civil police (judiciary), to whom the case was referred, did not open a criminal case. According to the chief of police (inspector) Davi Felicio, there will be no investigation in principle, since, in his opinion, there was no crime, the man accepted the challenge willingly and had the misfortune not to resist, but it is possible that this situation will change, since there is pressure to blame those who encouraged the farmer, already in a state of obvious intoxication and unable to comprehend the risk to his life, to take such a large amount of alcohol.