At least nine women feared to have been spiked with a date-rape drug at German chancellor's summer party

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) attends a press conference after the Munich Summit of German Business 2022. Photo / Getty Images

At least nine women are feared to have been spiked with a date-rape drug at the chancellor of Germany's summer party last week.

During the event, which was held by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrat party, the women fell ill after so-called knockout drops were mixed into their food and drinks by an unknown attacker.

German police said on Saturday they had launched an investigation after a 21-year-old woman came forward. She said she felt dizzy during the party and was then unable to remember the events of the following evening. Police are carrying out blood tests on the victims to check for toxic substances.

According to German officials, the women did not drink any alcohol and in her case the drug appears to have been mixed into her food.

Lars Klingbeil, the co-leader of the Social Democrats, said he was shocked by the incident and "furious that something like this could happen at an event" hosted by their party. He said that he hopes "that the perpetrator or perpetrators can be caught and then brought to account."

"This is an outrageous turn of events, which on our side was immediately reported to parliamentary police," added another SDP official, Mathias Martin.

The party took place last Wednesday and was attended by around a thousand guests, including Scholz, German lawmakers and their staff.

Knockout drops is a German slang phrase which relates to various date-rape substances, such as rohypnol and ketamine. When mixed with alcohol, the drugs can be extremely dangerous.

It is the second high-profile case of spiking in Germany this year, following an incident in February where a restaurant served up champagne laced with ecstasy. One person died and several others were hospitalised after drinking at the restaurant in Bavaria.

At the time, prosecutors said there was a "considerable concentration" of the drug in the bottle but were unsure how it was placed there, or by whom.

In Britain, there has been an increase in reports of spiking victims by injecting them with date-rape drugs. Victims say they woke up the next morning feeling dizzy and ill and found puncture marks on their bodies.

More than 100,000 women in the UK signed a petition last year which called for compulsory searches at nightclubs to detect would-be spikers.