Donna Demaio: Australia Correspondent on the suspected mass alcohol poisoning in Fiji

Two of the Australians who fell gravely ill after drinking pina coladas at a Fiji resort have returned home. 

Seven Australians staying at the high-end Warwick Resort have been hospitalised. 

Tanya Sandhoe and her teen daughter Georgia landed in Sydney last night after getting medical clearance to fly. 

Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio told Andrew Dickens it's a suspected mass alcohol poisoning. 

She says investigations are continuing into what happened, with toxicology reports expected soon. 

New Zealand's travel advice to Fiji's been updated, warning of a potential drink spiking and methanol poisoning. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So if you think it's earlier in New Zealand, you
should think how early it is in Australia. With donad Demayo,
wis good morning to your Donna.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Tell us about the Aussies who fell ill drinking the
pinacolada in Fiji.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yes, well, for some it would be considered a holiday
from Halbert. What happened was a number of people, about
seven people fell ill after having pina coladas. It was
a fancy resort in Fiji, is the Warwick Fiji. Now
we've heard from an Ossie granddad. His name is David Sandal.
Now he received a phone call from his daughter and
she told him, oh that she and his teenage granddaughter

(00:33):
had been hospitalized. They fell ill after drinking peanut coladas
at this hotel. Now a total of four Ossie's out
of the seven that fell ill were hospitalized. Now it's
a suspected mass alcohol poisoning they're calling it, and investigations
continue into what actually happened. We were waiting for toxicology

(00:54):
reports to come in, but at this stage no suggesting
anything untoward happened. Number quite a few questions still remain,
of course, But when we heard from David Sando. He
said it just sent chills down his spine. And it's
because once he got that phone call. It's because of
what happened in Laos recently and that tragedy where that
left two teenage Ossie's dead. And I think that's what

(01:18):
he was thinking when he got that phone called. He
was thinking the worst, yes, exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
And Fiji didn't appreciate him actually mentioning the worst because
as they've striven to point out, it hasn't been nearly
as bad as that, and of course that depended on
the tourism. So we wait for the toxicology report exactly. Meanwhile,
it's pretty hot, pretty hot on your neck of the woods.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
I'm sweating as we speak. I really, I really am.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Hold on, it's three o'clock in the morning.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
It's all well, it's warm. So the call chain has
come through. But yesterday was absolutely a scorture for most
of Australia. Victoria, for instance, recorded its highest DESCENDBRA temperature
in five years and it's impacting South Australia, Northern Territory,
in New South Wales, Queensland. As I Mentionedvictoria, the Weather
Bureau is said that wholly up in Victoria's northwest recorded

(02:05):
wait for it, forty seven degrees mid afternoon. Other places
reached mid forties. That's twelve to twenty degrees above the
December average. Yes, it's really really warm. In Adelaide it
was thirty eight degrees by ten am yesterday. In Melbourne
it reached thirty degrees by nine am and by late

(02:26):
afternoon thirty nine degrees. And of course a lot of
concern for the fire danger and everyone is on a
high alert in the fire services especially thankfully, a mild
you know, relatively you know, anticipated highly anticipated call change
came through last night. The gave a sudden relief.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
You stay called.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
You can barely sweek, i can barely speak.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
I'm so warm. I'm just so much for your time today.
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