Contaminated beverages an act of sabotage: Bersih organisers

PETALING JAYA: Organisers of the Bersih 4 rally said the contaminated drinks handed out to rally goers on Saturday was an act of sabotage.
"These drinks have caused participants to have stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhoea. This seems to be an act of sabotage and an attempt to poison our participants, who have since been given medical attention and taken to the hospital," Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah said in a statement issued today.
She was commenting on the incident where six rally goers who consumed packet drinks were rushed to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for suspected food poisoning.
Following the incident, videos were circulated on social media, showing pin-sized puncture holes on packet drinks.
Bersih 2.0 also uploaded a video on their official Facebook page showing the juice boxes being examined by their medical team coordinator Tan Gengta.
Maria advised rally goers not to accept free drinks distributed by those not authorised by the Bersih 4 organising committee, and said police reports have been lodged on the incident.
Meanwhile, Health Ministry Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said two cases of diarrhoea involving rally participants were reported at the Emergency and Traumatology unit of Hospital Kuala Lumpur on Sunday afternoon.
"The participants consumed lychee flavoured drinks that were handed out to them. However, since only two cases have been reported thus far, the link between the diarrhoea cases and the drinks cannot be ascertained yet," he said in a statement.
He said the diarrhoea cases were not serious and they were treated as outpatients.