Seven guests, including four Australians and an American, were hospitalised after drinking cocktails at a luxury hotel in Fiji, officials confirmed on Monday.
The guests remain in a stable condition, the Pacific island’s government said. The incident occurred on Saturday night at the five-star Warwick Fiji resort on the Coral Coast, located about 70 kilometres west of Suva.
According to Fiji’s health ministry, the individuals were taken to hospital after suffering from nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms.
“We are reassured that their condition this morning was stable, and we do hope their condition continues to improve,” a joint statement by Fiji’s health and tourism ministries said.
The patients were initially treated at Sigatoka Hospital, near the hotel, before being transferred to Lautoka Hospital on Fiji’s west coast for further care. A spokesperson for Lautoka Hospital declined to comment on the matter.
The Warwick Fiji resort said it had launched an investigation into the incident and was awaiting test results from 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 hotel’s spokesperson stated.
Fiji’s health and tourism ministries stressed that tourism in the country remains “typically very safe” and highlighted that close to a million tourists visit Fiji annually. “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,” the statement added.
Contradictory information emerged when a Fiji police spokesman said one patient had already been discharged from Sigatoka Hospital.
In a separate incident last month, two Danish citizens, an American, a Briton and two Australians died in Laos of suspected methanol poisoning, following a reported night out in Vang Vieng.
