Seven foreigners hospitalised after drinking cocktails in Fiji

SUVA, Fiji: Seven foreigners including four Australians and an American have been hospitalised after drinking cocktails at a five-star Fiji hotel resort, health officials said Sunday.

The hotel guests were taken to hospital on Saturday night suffering “nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms”, Fiji’s health ministry said in a statement.

They fell ill after drinking a cocktail prepared at a bar in the luxury Warwick Fiji resort on the Coral Coast, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) west of the capital Suva, it said.

A ministry spokesperson said the guests, aged from 18 to 56, included four Australians, one American and two foreigners who live in Fiji, whose nationalities were not given.

All seven were initially taken to the nearby Sigatoka hospital. Due to the severity of their conditions, they were later transferred to the larger Lautoka Hospital on the island’s west coast, the ministry spokesperson said.

Fiji police are investigating the incident.

Australia’s foreign ministry said it was providing consular assistance to two families but declined further comment citing “privacy obligations”.

Australian public broadcaster ABC said it understood a 56-year-old Australian woman was under constant surveillance in hospital and a 19-year-old female compatriot was suffering “serious medical episodes”.

Two other Australian women aged 49 and 18 were in a critical but less serious condition, the ABC said.

Fiji’s health ministry did not specify the cause of the illness but it warned people to ensure drinks and food consumed during the holiday period were safe.