Seven tourists taken to hospital in Fiji after drinking cocktails at resort bar

Seven foreign tourists have been taken to hospital after drinking cocktails at a five-star resort in Fiji, authorities have said.

Australians are among the tourists who became ill after drinking at the Warwick Fiji resort on the south coast of Viti Levu island on Saturday, Fiji’s government said in a statement.

Local media reports suggest an American tourist is also among those who were taken to hospital.

The group were treated for nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms, said Jemesa Tudravu, a Fijian health ministry spokesperson.

Two people remain in hospital and are conscious and in a stable condition, Fiji’s Tourism Minister Viliame R Gavoka said.

Four others were discharged on Monday and one on Sunday.

The cause of their illnesses are not known and officials have said it is too soon to know if tainted alcohol was involved.

Mr Gavoka said no other reports of similar illness have been recorded at the resort or across Fiji.

“The resort management has assured us that they have not engaged in practices such as substituting ingredients or altering the quality of drinks served to guests,” he said.

Police in the South Pacific nation are leading an investigation into the incident and have ordered toxicology tests and are awaiting the results.

It comes after six foreign tourists, including a British woman, died after consuming contaminated alcohol in Laos last month.

The Fijian government said in a statement that this is an “extremely isolated incident, affecting only these seven guests at a specific bar within the resort”.

It continued: “While we understand the concern, we want to emphasise that the tourism experience in Fiji is typically very safe, and we have acted immediately to try and discover the cause of what made these guests, at this resort, fall ill.”

Mereisi Makutu, the front office manager at the resort, told Fiji’s state broadcaster it was also investigating the incident.

“Our main priority at the moment is to look after those guests that are in hospital at the moment,” she told the Fijian Broadcasting Corporation.

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David Sandoe, an Australian who said his daughter and granddaughter were hospitalised, told Sky News Australia on Monday his relatives had been cleared for discharge from hospital.

Australia Treasurer Jim Chalmers told a news conference consular officials were helping those impacted along with their families.

“We are thinking of the friends and family of the people who are affected. This is no doubt a very distressing time for them,” he said.

The Australian government has updated its travel advice for Fiji to flag dangers of drink-spiking, and warned Australians more generally about the risk of alcohol poisoning when travelling.