Poisoning caused by men drinking refined fuel by mistake while eating Court： The hotel bears 80% responsibility.

　　Customers who mistakenly drink alcohol during meals are sent to hospital for treatment.

　　Friends get together, which is supposed to be fun and lively. Mr. Liu, who lives in Beijing, never expected that when he was having dinner with friends in a restaurant, he was taken to the hospital because he drank alcohol fuel as water. Why did Mr. Liu drink the alcohol fuel in the restaurant? Come and see what happened.

　　The customer took the kettle from the restaurant bar, but it was alcohol.

　　On the night of the murder, Mr. Liu and a dozen friends went to a restaurant for dinner. The video in the restaurant shows that at 8: 45 pm, the plaintiff Mr. Liu walked out of the private room, picked up a kettle on the opposite bar, and turned and walked back to the private room. But what Mr. Liu doesn’t know is that this kettle is filled with liquid alcohol instead of water.

　　Judge Zhao Ying of Beijing Shijingshan District People’s Court:He picked up the kettle and went back to the private room, then poured himself a big cup, and then took the cup and drank it. Suddenly, he felt that his stomach was burning and hot, so that he knew that he had drunk alcohol by mistake.

　　After asking the restaurant waiter, Mr. Liu realized that the kettle was not filled with tea, but with alcohol fuel for hot pot. Soon, Mr. Liu felt a strong burning sensation in his esophagus, and his stomach ache was unbearable. His companion immediately sent him to the hospital for treatment.

　　Judge Zhao Ying of Beijing Shijingshan District People’s Court:Mr. Liu went to a nearby hospital, and then he was admitted to the ICU because of this incident, and then he was treated for a long time. After leaving the hospital, he was given fluids for a long time, and then Mr. Liu was diagnosed with methanol poisoning.

　　Customers diagnosed with methanol poisoning sued the restaurant for 90 thousand claims

　　Mr. Liu believes that all the injuries to his body are caused by the fault of the restaurant, and the restaurant should bear all the responsibilities. So, Mr. Liu sued the Shijingshan District People’s Court in Beijing, demanding that the restaurant compensate for medical expenses, lost time, nursing expenses and mental damage compensation, totaling more than 90,000 yuan.

　　Why is it difficult to tell alcohol from water? The trial investigated the details.

　　I had a meal, but I washed my stomach. Should restaurants compensate customers? During the trial, the restaurant said that although liquid alcohol is colorless and transparent, it can’t taste like water. How can it not smell? Mr. Liu said that he had already drunk some white wine at that time. In this case, how can he tell whether it is alcohol or water? The restaurant also said that why didn’t Mr. Liu ask the waiter to pour water, so he shouldn’t get water himself. The trial launched an investigation into these details at the time of the incident.

　　Plaintiff: I asked for tea many times, but no one paid attention to it, so I had to fetch water myself.

　　Mr. Liu believes that on the night of the incident, he and his friends repeatedly asked the restaurant for tea, but no one answered for half an hour, so they went out to get water.

　　The plaintiff entrusts an agent ad litem:The plaintiff should have called the waiter for water and tea, but he never came. Then the plaintiff just took the opportunity to go to the toilet, passed by this windowsill and took the pot away.

　　However, the defendant’s restaurant played a video in court to prove that the plaintiff did not call the waiter.

　　The plaintiff, Mr. Liu, also said that the defendant’s restaurant put liquid alcohol into the teapot, which was difficult to distinguish.

　　The plaintiff entrusts an agent ad litem:The second evidence is a photo of a kettle filled with alcohol, which proves that the defendant put fuel alcohol into an ordinary kettle on November 12, 2022, causing the plaintiff to swallow fuel alcohol poisoning.

　　Defendant’s restaurant: The kettle involved was labeled with alcohol.

　　In this regard, the defendant restaurant said that this kettle filled with liquid alcohol is not the same as other kettles filled with water, and there is also a red label on the kettle involved, which reads the word "alcohol".

　　Defendant entrusts agent ad litem:It says alcohol. We all have words on it. It says alcohol pot.

　　In addition to the fact that the kettle filled with alcohol fuel is difficult to distinguish from the ordinary kettle, the plaintiff Mr. Liu also believes that it is wrong for the restaurant to put this kettle in a public area.

　　In this regard, the defendant said that although the pot containing alcohol fuel was placed near the vegetable outlet, it was placed separately. The plaintiff, Mr. Liu, took the pot away, which was entirely his own fault. In addition, after Mr. Liu felt unwell, the staff of the defendant’s restaurant actively fulfilled the obligation of treatment.

　　After examination, the plaintiff Mr. Liu was diagnosed as acute oral methanol poisoning and toxic liver injury. After treatment, Mr. Liu’s health is now fine.

　　Negligent management of restaurants puts alcohol in the dining environment

　　Is it Mr. Liu’s fault or the restaurant’s responsibility to take alcohol fuel by mistake? The Shijingshan People’s Court in Beijing pronounced a verdict on this case.

　　Restaurants that fail to fulfill their security obligations bear the main responsibility.

　　In the opinion of the trial judge in this case, the defendant’s restaurant should bear the main responsibility for Mr. Liu’s physical injury caused by drinking liquid alcohol by mistake.

　　Judge Zhao Ying of Beijing Shijingshan District People’s Court:Its location is still dangerous, because the door of this private room is facing one of its vegetable windows, and its pot is placed under this vegetable window, which means it is easy for people to mistakenly think that this side is a dish, this side is a seasoning, and then this side is a pot of water, which is easy to cause such misunderstanding.

　　In addition to the location of the pot, the court held that the pot containing liquid alcohol itself is very similar to the pot containing water and is easy to be confused.

　　Judge Zhao Ying of Beijing Shijingshan District People’s Court:Adding water may indeed be a long pot, but from the guest’s point of view, my round pot is a pot for drinking tea and water. It won’t be said that it is for guests to see, but this thing is definitely not used for drinking water, and it can’t have such an effect.

　　The customer fails to fulfill the duty of care and assume secondary responsibility.

　　Then, should the plaintiff, Mr. Liu, take responsibility for his mistake of taking liquid alcohol? The court held that Mr. Liu, as an adult, should have a basic obligation of prudence and should bear secondary responsibility.

　　Judge Zhao Ying of Beijing Shijingshan District People’s Court:Plaintiff: You must have a basic obligation of prudence as an adult before drinking an unknown liquid. Therefore, we also think that the plaintiff is lacking in this respect and has certain faults.

　　According to Article 1198 of the Civil Code, operators, managers or organizers of mass activities in hotels, shopping malls, banks, stations, airports, stadiums, entertainment places and other business places shall bear tort liability if they fail to fulfill their security obligations and cause damage to others.

　　The restaurant took 80% responsibility and awarded more than 58,000 yuan.

　　The People’s Court of Shijingshan, Beijing, found that the defendant’s restaurant was responsible for 80% and the plaintiff, Mr. Liu, was responsible for 20%. Finally, the restaurant was awarded compensation of more than 58,000 yuan for Mr. Liu’s medical expenses and lost time.

　　Judge Zhao Ying of Beijing Shijingshan District People’s Court:Hotel practitioners and operators must improve their safety awareness. We say that this kind of liquid alcohol is indeed a kind of fuel commonly used in hotels, but even if you use it again and again, you must be aware of its danger. If you don’t deal with these chemicals seriously according to the regulations, your risk will always exist.