By Jorgen Johansson

RIGA, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Eight people have died in Latvia after drinking the same homemade alcohol laced with disinfectant and furniture polish that put hundreds in hospital in Russia. Latvian police said on Tuesday 69 people were in hospital and some were critically ill.

State police spokeswoman Sintija Kajina said first test results on the alcohol, consumed in Latvia's eastern region of Latgale which borders Russia, showed its contents were similar to those of the dangerous Russian bootleg.

"We can confirm that the alcohol has the same disinfectant as the alcohol in Russia and we are expecting more cases of people falling ill in the region because symptoms only start to show after some two weeks after consumption," Kajina said.

The Russian region of Pskov, which borders Latvia, declared a state of emergency this month after several hundred people were taken to hospital and many died as a result of drinking tainted alcohol.

Last week hospitals in Preili, 200 km from the Latvian capital Riga, were flooded with victims of alcohol poisoning who showed severe symptoms of hepatitis and liver damage.

The Latvian Health Ministry declared the rural region an emergency area and helicopters were brought in to transport patients to Riga.

The director of Latvia's state Infectology Center, Baiba Rozentale, said at least one more person had died.

"One of our patients has died and last week another one had to be placed in the intensive care unit," Rozentale said. Last Thursday police said seven had died and 50 were seriously ill.

Latvia joined the European Union in 2004 and is enjoying one of the fastest growing economies in the union, but rural areas are still lagging behind and alcoholism remains an entrenched problem.

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