A man spent a week in hospital after he ordered water in a restaurant in Croatia and ended up with a burnt throat after swallowing a “corrosive agent”.
The incident took place when Stanko Lakovic, 44, from Pula, the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, sat down to lunch in a restaurant in Rijeka with his wife in May.
While they were waiting for their meals to arrive, he ordered some water, but as soon as the liquid touched his lips, he felt his mouth burning.
The Croatian man told local media: “As soon as I put it in my mouth, I immediately spat everything out and my mouth burned. After half a minute, they sent me out of the restaurant.”
Local media have reported that staff at the restaurant called an ambulance that took the man away, with it being suspected that he had simply had an allergic reaction of some kind.
But it was later determined that he had probably been served acid. Photographs show the man with a severely burnt tongue as a result of swallowing the liquid he was served.
Lakovic told local media: “The doctor said to me that it’s probably some corrosive agent, some acid. If I had drunk more, I wouldn’t be here.”
He said that after he was taken away in an ambulance, his wife had tried to retrieve the ‘water’ he had drunk.
But nobody wanted to give it to her, only taking out another bottle from the fridge so she could take pictures.
The bill also did not include the mineral water, only the dishes they had ordered for lunch.
The owner of the restaurant, who has not been named, confirmed to local media that the couple had ordered two mineral waters, but he could not explain why they did not appear on the bill.
The Municipal State Attorney’s Office in Rijeka said: “The files of the State Attorney’s Office during the investigation and other actions are confidential until the decision on the application is made.”
Lakovic spent a week in hospital with a burnt oesophagus.
He has reportedly lost 20 kilogrammes from being unable to swallow solid food.
He told local media: “I urge everyone to be careful. First smell it, then touch it, then drink it.”
The incident happened in May, but he is still suffering from what happened and decided to talk now. He still has to go to hospital every 20 days for treatment.
The investigation into the case is ongoing.
