A man in Thailand died after he guzzled down what he thought was a soft drink but in reality was toilet cleaner.
According to Thai media outlet Thaiger, the incident took place in the Buriram province on Monday (Oct 13).
Mistook toilet cleaner for soft drink
The victim was 44-year-old Nattawut, who stumbled upon the bottle containing the toilet cleaner and thinking it was a soft drink, drank it while in a hangover state.
Not long after, he began to experience dizziness and vomiting before he was sent to Satuek Hospital in Satuek district.
His relative brought the bottle for an examination, where it was confirmed to contain toilet cleaner.
After being given an injection and medication by doctors, Nattawut was allowed to go home. However, he went into septic shock five hours later and eventually died despite efforts to resuscitate him.
Doctor explains why stomach pumping wasn’t carried out
Following Nattawut’s passing, his relatives questioned why doctors did not consider pumping out the toilet cleaner from his system.
In response, Chief of Buriram Provincial Public Health Office, Dr Pichet Phuedkhuntod said Nattawut had consumed an acidic toilet cleaner with rust-removal properties.
As such, gastric lavage (stomach pumping) isn’t recommended as inserting a tube can cause the acid to flow back into the oesophagus and may cause perforation or severe infection.
Dr Pichet also added that Nattawut’s had showed signs of improvement and was discharged with instructions for monitoring, where his family were told to return to the hospital if the symptoms worsened.
He said public health office will coordinate support for Nattawut’s family and has instructed community hospitals to probe chemical storage practices in households.
He also called upon the public to not keep hazardous substances in drink containers.
READ ALSO:
