Seven foreign tourists, including an American, were taken to hospital in Fiji after drinking cocktails at a resort bar, Fijian authorities said on Monday, just weeks after. six tourists died suspected alcohol poisoning in a separate incident in Laos.
The seven were taken to hospital on Saturday night suffering from “nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms,” according to Fiji's health ministry.
They fell ill after drinking pina colada cocktails prepared at a bar in the five-star Warwick Fiji resort on the Coral Coast, about 45 miles west of the capital Suva, officials said.
A health ministry spokesman said the seven guests, aged between 18 and 56, included four Australians, one American and two others whose nationalities were not disclosed.
One of the patients was discharged on Sunday from the Sigatoka Hospital near the hotel, said tourism minister Viliame Gavoka.
The other six were transferred to the largest Lautoka Hospital on the island's west coast, he said, with two of them discharged earlier on Monday and two others set to leave later in the day.
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The two remaining patients at Lautoka Hospital were in a “stable condition” in intensive care, he told a news conference.
David Sandoe, an Australian man who said his daughter and granddaughter were in hospital, told Sky News Australia that his relatives had been released from hospital and were expected to fly home on Monday night.
Fiji's health ministry and police force were investigating the cause, Gavoka said, adding that results from “critical” toxicology tests usually take three to four days.
“Everyone is in a state of disbelief that this has happened,” he said.
When asked if the illness could be related to methanol poisoning, Gavoka said that is “something we don't believe is possible in Fiji. “
While refusing to speculate on the cause, he said it was a “very isolated incident”.
Fijian tourism, which attracts nearly a million people a year, was “usually very safe,” he said.
The minister said he did not think it was the result of a deliberate act.
The hotel bar was “very busy” that evening, he said, but only seven people got sick from the pina coladas, which were usually “pretty harmless”.
A spokesperson for the Warwick Fiji hotel said they were investigating and awaiting test results from the health authorities.
“At this time, we do not have concrete details, but we are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our guests,” the spokesperson said.
Australia's foreign ministry said it was providing consular assistance to two families but declined further comment citing “privacy obligations”.
In a separate incident in Laos last month, two Danish citizens, an American, a Briton and two Australians died of suspected methanol poisoning after what the local media reported was a night out in Vang Vieng town. Among the victims British Simone White28, two young Australians, Holly Bowles and her best friend Bianca Jones, and two young women from DenmarkAnne-Sofie Orkild Coyman and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, BBC reported. Only one of the victims, 57-year-old American citizen James Louis Hutson, was male.
Police in custody the 34-year-old manager of the Nana Backpacker Hostel and seven other workers for questioning.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
