Seven tourists hospitalised in Fiji for suspected alcohol poisoning
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The seven tourists fell ill after drinking pina coladas prepared at a bar in the five-star Warwick Fiji resort.
PHOTO: WARWICK FIJI/FACEBOOK
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SUVA - Seven guests hospitalised after drinking cocktails in a luxury Fiji hotel – including four Australians and an American – are now in stable condition, the Pacific island government said on Dec 16.
The seven were taken to hospital on the night of Dec 14 suffering from “nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms”, according to Fiji’s Health Ministry.
They fell ill after drinking pina coladas prepared at a bar in the five-star Warwick Fiji resort on the Coral Coast, about 70km west of the capital Suva, it said.
One of the patients had been discharged on Dec 15 from the Sigatoka Hospital near the hotel, said Tourism Minister Viliame Gavoka.
The other six were transferred to the larger Lautoka Hospital on the island’s west coast, he said, with two of them discharged earlier on Dec 16 and another two set to leave later in the day.
The two patients remaining in Lautoka Hospital were in a “stable condition” in intensive care, he told a news conference.
Fiji’s Health Ministry and police force were investigating the cause, Mr Gavoka said, adding that results from “critical” toxicology tests normally take three or four days.
“Everyone is in a state of disbelief that this has happened,” he said.
Asked whether the illness might be related to methanol poisoning, Mr Gavoka said that was “something that we don’t believe is possible in Fiji”.
While declining to speculate about the cause, he said it was a “very isolated incident”.
Fijian tourism, which attracts close to a million people each year, was “typically very safe”, he said.
The minister said he did not believe it was the result of any deliberate action.
The hotel bar involved was “very busy” on that evening, he added, but only seven people were sickened by the pina coladas, which were normally “pretty harmless”.
A spokesperson for the Warwick Fiji hotel said it was conducting an investigation and waiting for test results from the health authorities.
“At this moment, we do not have conclusive details, but we are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our guests,” the spokesperson said.
Australia Treasurer Jim Chalmers told a news conference that consular officials were helping those impacted, along with their families, while Fiji’s police were leading an investigation into the poisoning.
“We are thinking of the friends and family of the people who are affected. This is no doubt a very distressing time for them,” he said.
The Australian government has updated its travel advice for Fiji to flag dangers of drink spiking, and warned Australians more generally about the risk of alcohol poisoning when travelling.
“If Australians are travelling, be very alert to the potential risks in this case around drink spiking and alcohol poisoning,” Mr Chalmers said.
In a separate incident in Laos in November, two Danish citizens, an American, a Briton and two Australians died of suspected methanol poisoning
