Warwick Resort Fiji: Toxicology tests rule out ‘alcohol poisoning’ in tourists’ illness

• Toxicology tests in Fiji ruled out alcohol poisoning from cocktails as the cause of the illness.
• Seven tourists, including Australians and an American, were hospitalised but have since recovered.
• The investigation continues to determine the cause, with no illicit substances found in the drinks.

Toxicology tests in Fiji have ruled out alcohol poisoning from a hotel bar’s cocktails as the cause of a mystery illness that sent seven guests to hospital, the Pacific nation’s government says.

The tourists – who included four Australians and an American – were stricken last weekend after drinking pina coladas at the five-star Warwick Fiji resort, government officials have said.

The tourists were stricken last weekend after drinking pina coladas at the five-star Warwick Fiji resort. Photo / 123RF

The seven guests – all but one of them foreigners – have since recovered and been released from hospital, Tourism Minister Viliame Gavoka told a livestreamed news conference in the capital, Suva.

“I can confirm that no illicit substances or methanol were found in the ingredients or liquor samples,” he said.

“The finding that there is no evidence of alcohol poisoning is great news for Fiji, especially for our vital tourism industry.”

A mystery illness sent seven hotel guests to the hospital in Fiji.

But the Government was unable as yet to explain what affected the tourists, who officials described as suffering from “nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms”.

All of them had been drinking cocktails in the same bar at the resort, which lies on the Coral Coast about 60km west of Suva.

“The investigation will continue. We want to get to the bottom of this – you know, why did they get ill? So we will stay focused,” the tourism minister said.

Gavoka urged foreign governments to “take away the word ‘spike’” from their travel advisories.

Australia issued a travel advisory for Fiji on Sunday telling tourists to “be alert to the potential risks around drink spiking and methanol poisoning through consuming alcoholic drinks”.

Fiji’s Secretary for Health, Jemesa Tudravu, said there were many possible causes for the symptoms the tourists had, including infections or chemicals.

Tudravu said the drinks did not contain illicit drugs or excess alcohol. But he said the toxicology investigation was “currently continuing”.

The hospitalisations sent a shudder through the tourism industry in Fiji, where officials say close to a million people visit each year.

In Laos last month, two Danish citizens, an American, a Briton and two Australians died of suspected methanol poisoning after what local media said was a night out in the town of Vang Vieng.

– Agence France-Presse