Akash Sama­roo

A cock­tail of pun­cheon and Bay Rum is said to be re­spon­si­ble for send­ing four peo­ple, be­lieved to be home­less, to the Port of Spain Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal on Fri­day af­ter­noon. They are all now clin­i­cal­ly sta­ble.

The po­lice were ini­tial­ly told that the peo­ple who had col­lapsed and were froth­ing at the mouth on the Bri­an Lara Prom­e­nade were poi­soned.

How­ev­er, An­tho­ny Blake, the Chief Ex­ec­u­tive Of­fi­cer of the North West Re­gion­al Health Au­thor­i­ty (NWRHA) told Guardian Me­dia to­day, "the four per­sons were ad­mit­ted with a his­to­ry of in­ges­tion of a cock­tail of Bay Rum and Pun­cheon."

Blake added, "One was dis­charged yes­ter­day, one is like­ly to be dis­charged to­day, while the oth­er two are ad­mit­ted for mon­i­tor­ing."

Blake said he was told that the symp­toms they ex­hib­it­ed on Fri­day, "are like­ly due to the in­ges­tion of Bay Rum which is mar­ket­ed for ex­ter­nal use on­ly and can cause tox­i­c­i­ty if im­bibed."

Three men and one woman were af­fect­ed.

The in­ci­dent took place be­tween Aber­crom­by and Cha­con Streets.