Guards land in hospital after drinking pre-mixed coffee

GEORGE TOWN: Two security guards working at a commercial building on Pulau Tikus experienced extreme fatigue and weakness before falling unconscious after drinking pre-mixed coffee on Tuesday.

The Nepali nationals claimed a woman colleague working at the same premises gave the pre-mixed coffee sachets to them.

Sapkota Mangal Prasad, 45, said he and his friend Bishnu Shrestna, 41, had never tried the durian-flavoured four-in-one premixed coffee before.

“I became nauseous, had a headache and my body became very hot less than five minutes after drinking the coffee.

“I was also convulsing as if I was having a fit before I lost consciousness, and only regained consciousness when treated at the Penang Hospital (HPP),” he told reporters after receiving a visit from the Nepal consul-general Datuk Huan Cheng Guan at HPP here.

Huan hoped the Health Ministry would investigate to find out if banned substances were in the coffee mix.

A Bernama check in George Town found supermarkets were no longer stocking the coffee after the incident went viral on social media.

Penang Health Department (JKN) director Dr Wan Mansor Hamzah said five people including two women had been warded at HPP after drinking the coffee mix. The five, aged 19 to 62, were discharged after undergoing treatment. – Bernama