Young man in serious condition after ingesting detergent he was served in error after bottle mix up at beach bar in Spain

An 18-year-old young man from the town of Elgoibar in Spain's Basque Country was admitted to a hospital intensive care unit after ingesting a detergent liquid that was accidentally served to him instead of the 'mosto' grape juice he ordered. The incident happened on Wednesday, 25 June, at the Ondarbeltz bar on Mutrikuarra beach. The youth's condition was described as stable, but with a guarded prognosis due to the severe internal burns he had sustained.

"We want to publicly denounce what has happened to us, because we do not want anyone else to have to go through this nightmare," said the young man's parents, who have now reported the incident to the authorities.

According to the young man's father, his son went fishing with a friend in Deba on Wednesday morning. At midday, they went to the beach bar to have a drink. "Our son asked for a glass of 'mosto' and as soon as he swallowed it, he began to feel a burning sensation inside," the parent said.

The young man approached the bar to explain what was happening to him and it was then that the manager of the beach bar - Bruno - realised that instead of grape juice he had been served a corrosive washing-up detergent. As soon as he realised the seriousness of the incident, Bruno rushed the young man to the Hospital Mendaro Regional in his own car.

In view of the seriousness of the internal burns, the doctors decided to transfer the youth to the Hospital Universitario de Donostia, where he was admitted to the intensive care unit "with a guarded prognosis".

After spending a "hellish" night, on Thursday the boy's parents said that their son remained in the ICU, "stable and with a guarded prognosis". The father told SUR that, although they were still cautious, he was confident that his son would recover. "On Wednesday afternoon, the doctors told us that they feared the worst, but fortunately our son has not worsened and we think that time is on our side," he said.

As soon as they found out what had happened, the young man's parents went to the Hospital Mendaro. After seeing that he remained conscious despite the seriousness of the internal burns, the mother stayed with him, while the father called the Ertzain Etxea - the Basque Country's regional police force - and went to the Ondarbeltz beach bar, where the officers took a statement from the manager.

The family has taken the necessary steps to report the incident to the competent authorities.

At the beginning of last summer, Mutriku town hall awarded Bruno the contract to run the Ondarbeltz beach bar. The manager admitted to feeling "terrible" after what happened, which he described as "an unfortunate accident". He expressed his hopes that the boy "will recover well and soon".

Bruno explained that the washing-up liquid had been poured in an empty grape juice bottle, which was then left in a corner of the bar. They had the intention to store it somewhere else, but one of the workers mistakenly poured the boy a glass from that same bottle.

As soon as he became aware of the issye, Bruno himself took the young man to the hospital. "I tried to act as quickly and as properly as possible," he said.