FAMILY CLAIM CHILDREN WERE GIVEN INSECT REPELLENT AT RESTAURANT

A family has been left fuming after claiming their children were accidentally served insect repellant instead of juice at a restaurant in Western Australia

Marcus and Michele Lemin claim their daughters Hannah and Olivia were given the poisonous liquid at a venue in Perth on Friday night.

The sisters, aged 11 and 12, had initially ordered cranberry juice with their dinner. 

But they were allegedly given citronella torch and lamp oil, a red chemical solution used to repel adult mosquitos. 

'My daughters just went to gulp it down and they both spat the cranberry juice out and said "it's poisoned",' Ms Lemin told ABC

The mother then took a sip and spat it out too.

After smelling the liquid, the girls' father demanded to see the bottle it came from. 

Mr Lemin claimed the staff member initially refused, but later handed him a bottle of insecticide which had been pulled from the fridge.

Mr Lemin snapped a photograph of the bottle showing it had the label 'Plus Bifenthrin' printed across it along with a prominent warning.

The outraged father said the waiter was apologetic and appeared distraught by the incident. 

After receiving advice from the poisons information centre, Hannah and Olivia were taken to Perth Children's Hospital, where they were monitored for six hours. 

'I was really scared of what it was, and I was scared I was going to die,' Olivia told 9News.

'It felt like someone had poured fire in your stomach and it felt like you had pins and needles in your arms and legs.' 

The girls' mother was also monitored at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. 

All three have now been discharged and are resting at home.   

Mr Lemin said he had contacted the local authorities and made a complaint to the Department of Health.

It is understood that the department will support the local council, which is responsible for investigating the family's claims.

Mr Lemin said he hopes the incident will be thoroughly investigated, so no other family has to go through what they did. 

'I think it's pretty simple, right?' Mr Lemin said.

'You can't manage a restaurant and allow chemicals to be in an area where these sorts of mistakes can happen.

'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.'

Micky's Italian Fusion said it was investigating the incident. 

Daily Mail Australia contacted the restaurant for further comment.  

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2024-06-30T01:40:18Z dg43tfdfdgfd