MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Seven overseas vacationers who had been hospitalized in Fiji after consuming cocktails at a resort bar weren’t poisoned by alcohol or illicit medication, officers mentioned Wednesday following a toxicology report.
The reason for the vacationers’ sickness over the weekend stays below investigation, Fiji’s Tourism Minister Viliame R. Gavoka mentioned.
“I can affirm that no illicit substances or methanol had been discovered within the components or liquor samples,” Gavoka instructed reporters within the capital, Suva.
“The findings that there isn’t a proof of alcohol poisoning is nice information for Fiji, particularly for our very important tourism trade,” he added.
All seven vacationers have since totally recovered, he mentioned.
They grew to become ailing on the five-star Warwick resort close to the city of Sigatoka on Saturday.
The vacationers, together with Australians and an American, had been hospitalized with nausea, vomiting and neurological signs, Fiji’s Health Ministry mentioned.
News retailers had reported the reason for the foreigners’ sickness was suspected alcohol poisoning, much like a case in Laos final month through which six vacationers — together with two Australian youngsters — died after consuming drinks tainted with methanol.
The suspicion of methanol poisoning was a blow to Fiji’s tourism trade, which has a repute for offering secure meals and drinks.
Alcohol poisoning is a standard hazard in lots of poorly regulated vacationer locations, the place respected manufacturers of spirits are substituted with domestically distilled ethanol. Methanol may be an unintended byproduct of unprofessional distillation.
Fiji Permanent Secretary for Health Jemesa Tudravu mentioned the diseases may have been attributable to a chemical response or an infection. His division was persevering with to research.
Gavoka urged overseas governments to take away from their journey advisories warnings a danger of drink spiking in Fiji that emerged this week.
He mentioned the vacationer trade had been rocked by media stories of suspected contaminated drinks, however vacationers had not canceled their holidays.
“There isn’t any indication of individuals canceling. What we hear is people who find themselves in a way of disbelief that Fiji may very well be spiking drinks or Fiji may very well be including some dangerous stuff into the cocktails,” Gavoka mentioned.
Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka mentioned the incident had been confined to a single resort.
“We’d like to inform all people that it’s secure to return to Fiji and now we have to additionally discover out who has been giving out the adverse press about Fiji as a vacation spot. Are they opponents for our vacationer guests?” Rabuka mentioned to reporters.
