Two children allegedly poisoned in Perth restaurant
Two young girls were rushed to a hospital in Perth after they allegedly ingested a concoction of pink-coloured solution of citronella torch and lamp oil.
Marcus and Michele Lemin were having dinner with their daughters at a western suburbs restaurant when the incident occurred.
Hannah 11 and Olivia 12 had ordered Cranberry juice.
"My daughters just went to gulp it down and they both spat the cranberry juice out and said 'it's poisoned’," Ms Lemin said.
"I said don't be silly and took the glass and I went to gulp it down and then spat it out."
The father went to the front counter and demanded to see the bottle.
A staff member initially refused, telling him it was "just old cranberry juice".
"He took the bottle [out of the fridge] and placed it under the counter," Mr Lemin said.
"That's when I sort of said, 'No, you need to give me the bottle, I need to see what it is’."
The family then rushed to Perth Children's Hospital and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.
"My daughters' … stomachs were burning, their fingers and hands were tingling," Ms Lemin said.
"They had a headache ... it was awful."
The children were discharged after several hours of observation.
Mr Lemin made a complaint to the Department of Health, but it is up to local council to investigating the family's claims.
"I think it's pretty simple, right? You can't manage a restaurant and allow chemicals to be in an area where these sorts of mistakes can happen," Mr Lemin said.
"As a minimum, there needs to be some steps taken to ensure that they basically adhere to the state safe handling of chemicals and hazardous materials.
"We're lucky that the children weren't younger," Ms Lemin said.
"If they were younger children that this happened to, I'd hate to think what would have happened."
The restaurant is also investigating.
Jonathan Jackson, 1st July 2024
