Police and the Colombo Municipal Council’s Medical Officer have launched an investigation after a 19-year-old girl was hospitalised for ingesting a cleaning chemical that was mistakenly served in a soft drink bottle at a restaurant in People’s Park, Pettah.

The incident occurred on 31 December 2024 when the girl, accompanied by her mother, visited the restaurant. After ordering a bottle of soft drink, she began vomiting shortly after drinking it. The girl was admitted to the National Hospital, Colombo, and later transferred to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases for further treatment.

Her brother posted about the incident on Facebook

Following a complaint from the girl’s relatives, police recorded statements from three restaurant employees. It was discovered that the restaurant had mistakenly given the girl a bottle containing detergent instead of a soft drink. Employees told the police that the restaurant’s main branch had been sending cleaning chemicals in empty soft drink bottles, and the staff had been unable to distinguish between the soft drinks and cleaning liquids, leading to the error.

Police also found several other bottles containing similar chemicals at the restaurant.

In response, Elephant House Beverages (Ceylon Cold Stores) issued a statement clarifying that the liquid in question was not their Elephant House Ginger Beer (EGB). The company confirmed that the restaurant had repurposed an empty EGB bottle to store the cleaning chemical, which was then mistakenly sold to the customer.