A guest who fell ill after drinking contaminated cocktails at a five-star Fiji resort was offered $160 compensation and asked to sign an indemnity agreement, her friend claims.
Four Australians, a Fijian, and an American were rushed to hospital on Saturday after drinking at Warwick Fiji on the holiday island’s Coral Coast, suffering symptoms including nausea and vomiting.
Four of the victims have since been discharged, including a Sydney mother and daughter who returned home on Monday night.
A second Australian mother and a Fijian woman, 22, remain in a stable condition at Lautoka hospital.
The Fijian woman was holidaying with friends at the Warwick resort when she began having a seizure and foaming at the mouth after consuming pina coladas from the pool bar.
She was also taken to Lautoka Hospital in a critical condition, where she remains in care in a stable condition.
A male friend who accompanied her on the trip said he was appalled by the lack of care given to her by resort staff as the emergency unfolded.
He said the resort also went to lengths to try to waive any responsibility over what happened.
Four Australians, a Fijian, and an American were rushed to hospital on Saturday after drinking at Warwick Fiji on the holiday island’s Coral Coast, suffering symptoms including nausea and vomiting (pictured: a staff member – who was unconnected to the incident – holds bottles of spirits as she tidies up the bar at the Warwick Resort in Fiji on Monday)
Five of the victims have since been discharged, including a Sydney mother and daughter who returned home on Monday night (pictured: tourists could be seen enjoying beverages at the pool bar on Monday)
‘They made my friend sign an indemnity form and provided a small reimbursement of like $160,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I was not happy with this… They didn’t address if they would reach out to the victims and provide any assistance.’
The friend said the group had been drinking at the bar just after midday on Saturday before returning to their rooms.
At 5pm, he and the others went to check on their 22-year-old friend to get her up and ready for dinner only to discover she was seriously unwell.
He said they immediately called reception staff but they ‘took their sweet time’ and ‘weren’t acting like anything was out of place’.
When they went to the reception area, the group saw several other guests were unwell.
The friend said resort staff weren’t helpful so he called a doctor friend who advised him to take her somewhere immediately to get stabilised.
‘There were no medical personnel at the resort,’ he said.
One of the poolside bars at the Warwick resort, which has been in operation for 40 years
‘We had to take her in our rental car to a small clinic in Sigatoka to stabilise her before taking her to Sigatoka Hospital.
‘There were no nurses or proper medical equipment [there] either. There, they got her breathing ok and fits in check then took her to Lautoka.
‘She had to have CPR done on the way.’
The friend said their ordeal had turned their ‘perfect weekend’ into a ‘living nightmare’.
‘Even at the hospital, no one from management called us to check in with us,’ he said.
The victim’s parents have travelled to be by her side in hospital, while her friends have since returned to Suva.
Georgia Sandoe-Simpson, 19, and her mother Tanya Sandoe, 56, are pictured returning to Sydney on Monday
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the resort for comment.
Among those affected by the suspected alcohol poisoning were Tanya Sandoe, 56, and her daughter Georgia Sandoe-Simpson, 19, from Sydney’s upper north shore.
Georgia suffered a seizure after drinking the cocktail and was the most ill out of the pair.
Ms Sandoe and her daughter looked happy to be back on home soil as they wheeled their own luggage out of Sydney Airport shortly after 7pm on Monday night.
The mum and daughter beamed as they were reunited with Ms Sandoe’s parents David and Pamela and another male family member at a side exit, escorted by Australian Federal Police officers and out of the sight of most of the waiting media.
The Fiji incident comes after six tourists, including two Australians, were killed after drinking methanol-laced drinks at a two-star hostel in Laos in November.
While Fijian authorities are yet to determine if the latest incident is due to methanol poisoning, it has renewed calls for Aussies to be careful while drinking overseas.
Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) CEO Dean Long told Daily Mail Australia methanol poisonings were rare, but could happen anywhere in the world.
‘These events, they do happen. They happen in Australia, they happen around the world and so they’re not destination specific,’ he said.
More than 400,000 Aussies travelled to Fiji in the past year – a holiday hotspot considered to be a ‘safe destination’ for tourists.
