The cocktail at the centre of suspected alcohol poisoning in Fiji will undergo testing in Australia, as a mother and daughter who were hospitalised returned to home soil.
Tanya Sandoe, 56, and Georgia Sandoe-Simpson, 19, were seen hugging relatives in an emotional reunion at Sydney’s international airport on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that the cocktails they and five other tourists had been drinking at the five-star Warwick Resort were Pina Coladas made with local rum.
The Sandoes were reportedly on a mother-daughter pre-Christmas holiday and enjoying drinks by the pool when they consumed something toxic and collapsed.
Seven people were hospitalised with suspected alcohol poisoning.
Fiji’s Tourism Minister Viliame Gavoka said the affected tourists had been drinking Pina Colada cocktails made with local rum.
He said the bartender making the drinks had more than 15 years experience.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Fijian authorities have sent samples of the Pina Coladas to experts in Australia for a definitive finding.
Gavoka told the ABC the isolated incident was being thoroughly investigated.
“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,” he said on Monday night.
Seven people were hospitalised, including two others believed to be also Australians.
But Gavoka told ABC television on Monday night one of the two was a girl from Fiji.
“They’re both stable,” he said, adding they were in Lautoka Hospital.
“Lautoka is managed by a Canberra-based company and provides Australian standards in terms of medical care.
“So we all have confidence that they are now stable and that they will come out OK.”
Gavoka said it was the first time such a thing had happened in Fiji.
“We are really determined to find out what (happened) … because tourism is our number one in this country and we are approaching Christmas and New Year,” he said.
The Warwick Fiji resort where the suspected poisoning occurred said it was committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of guests.
“Please rest assured that we are taking this matter very seriously and are currently conducting a thorough investigation,” it told AAP in a statement.
The resort is located on the beach on Fiji’s Coral Coast, a tourism hotspot on the archipelago’s largest island Viti Levu.
It follows the death of two Australians in Laos, among other victims of a suspected mass ethanol poisoning.
Travellers have been advised to be alert to potential risks around drink spiking and methanol poisoning in revised guidance.
-with AAP
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