The incident happened on March 2
Earlier this month, five people began vomiting blood and reported a burning sensation in their mouths after eating mouth freshener at a Gurugram cafe. The incident happened on March 2 when Ankit Kumar, his wife and their friends visited Laforestta Cafe in Gurugram, where they took ill after being given dry ice as a mouth freshener. Now, one of the victims has come forward to share details of the horrific incident, demanding justice.
Speaking to People of India, Nehu Sabharwal slammed the restaurant's negligence and said that her family could have died as a result of the incident. She also said that the restaurant staff ran away instead of helping them.
She said, ''A few hours after we ate, we were leaving the restaurant. What happened in the next 5 minutes traumatised us for life. The waitress gave us a mouth freshener. In the next 3 seconds, we were vomiting blood. We were shouting and shivering in pain for 30 minutes. Instead of helping us, the staff ran away. My husband drove us to the hospital. On reaching the hospital, doctors said you have consumed dry ice, you could have died. I couldn't eat anything for five days, I was on steroids. FIR was registered but the owner is still not arrested. The restaurant's license has still not been cancelled. I hope no one suffers like we did. We hope to get justice soon.''
Watch the video here:
While the cafe's manager was arrested, a case was registered against the restaurant's owner based on the victims' complaints.
Reacting to the video, many demanded strict action against the cafe owner. One user said, ''The person who did this should be arrested ASAP. This is very serious and should not be ignored. I hope everyone is now safe.''
Another commented, ''This is madness!! I hope y'all are okay now. It's insane to even think how the dry ice even got mixed with the mouth freshener, really goes to show how negligent the staff is.''
Ms Sabharwala also posted a video about the incident on her Instagram account and demanded the owner's arrest. ''No ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN AGAINST THE OWNER Kindly join me in. This drive to take appropriate action against the culprits. Also please be aware of what you eat and what's served to you in eatery joints,'' she said.
Notably, dry ice is formed by cooling and condensing carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. It is widely used in shipping products in the food and pharmaceutical industries, as it helps keep products frozen during transportation. However, dry ice can be hazardous if used incorrectly. Due to its extreme temperature, handling dry ice incorrectly may lead to cold burns and frostbite. It can lead to cold burns and asphyxiation if consumed by accident.