Seven foreigners in Fiji ended up in hospital after they drank pina coladas at a resort bar and fell ill over the weekend, authorities confirmed Monday.
The cocktails were served at the five-star Warwick resort on Saturday, according to local news reports. It’s unclear if the rum-based drinks were served with tainted alcohol and the cause of the illnesses is not yet known.
Fiji’s tourism minister, Viliame R. Gavoka, told reporters that those hospitalized include four Australians and one American. The other two are foreigners living in Fiji. While five have been discharged, two people remain in hospital, conscious and in stable condition.
Jemesa Tudrave, a Fiji Health Ministry spokesperson, said those affected were hospitalized with vomiting, nausea and neurological symptoms.
The incident comes weeks after the deaths of six tourists in the South East Asian nation of Laos because of suspected methanol poisoning.
Brent Hill, Fiji’s tourism chief, told RNZ that while they’re aware of the Laos case, Fiji’s situation is “a long way from that.”
Gavoka said that toxicology test results are pending and should be ready in about three to four days, but stressed that there were no other reports of similar illness at the resort or across the island nation.
“The resort management has assured us that they have not engaged in practices such as substituting ingredients or altering the quality of drinks served to guests,” Gavoka said in statement.
“This is the only reported case of its kind that we’ve experienced in recent memory, and certainly nothing like this has been experienced this year,” he continued.
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The Warwick Fiji hotel said in a statement to the BBC that it was aware of the “suspected alcohol poisoning” and was taking it “very seriously.” The hotel said it was “conducting a thorough investigation” while awaiting a “test result report” from the health authorities to “gather all necessary information.”
Sydney resident David Sandoe told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he’d received a call saying his daughter and granddaughter were among those hospitalized. He confirmed to the outlet they had both been drinking pina coladas before falling ill.
“There was a group of them in the lounge of this resort and they had a similar cocktail and unfortunately, seven people came down with the symptoms that have been talked about,” Sandoe said.
— With files from The Associated Press
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