Emergency services were called to a bar in Bavaria on the weekend after a group of people showed symptoms of poisoning. Investigations are ongoing, but police said on Monday that the group had drunk champagne laced with MDMA.

Poisoning at Bavarian bar

On Sunday, a group of people at a bar in the Bavarian city of Weiden began to feel as if they had been poisoned. Police and emergency responders rushed to the scene but, by the time they arrived, several members of the group had collapsed. Eight people, aged between 33 and 52, were then rushed to various hospitals nearby. A 52-year-old man from the district of Schwandorf died later that night.

Investigations are currently ongoing. A toxicological analysis of the champagne found a “considerable concentration” of ecstasy in the drink, although it is not known how the drug got into the bottle or who put it there. Some of the group who were taken to hospital can now be heard as witnesses; they said that the drink tasted “disgusting” and immediately knew something was wrong with the champagne. A member of the group filmed the bottle being opened.

Negligent homicide?

Germany’s public prosecutor has ruled out a targeted attack and has instead opened an investigation into a possible negligent homicide. A special investigatory commission codenamed “Market” is looking into the incident. Prosecutors believe that drug smugglers filled the three-litre bottle of Möet & Chandon with 100 grams of ecstasy, a practice that is already familiar to the police.

Detectives have suggested that the bottle was never intended to be delivered to the restaurant in Weiden, and believe the dealer simply made a mistake when delivering the bottle. Searches have already taken place in and around the restaurant, as well as its sister outlet directly opposite. It has been determined that a bartender picked up the contaminated bottle from the sister bar.

Investigators are now looking into the origin of the bottle, with checks being run on where and when the bottle was tampered with, and by whom. It is entirely possible that the bottle was opened, the drugs were poured in, and the bottle was then resealed. “The distribution channel is being carefully examined,” said chief public prosecutor Gerd Schäfer, who explained that the manufacturer has not been contacted yet.