Man Mistakenly Served Detergent Instead of Wine, Dies

Andres Lorente died of internal burns after drinking cleaning fluid he thought was white wine in the city of Benicarlo in the Spanish province of Castellon.

He was in bar Raconet for a Sunday afternoon drink on June 14 when he was served what he thought was a glass of white wine.

The liquid he was served was cleaning fluid that had been stored in an empty bottle of wine and mistakenly been put in the fridge by a member of staff.

After taking a sip of what he thought was white wine, he felt a burning sensation, according to local newspaper, El Periodico Mediterraneo.

In an attempt to cool the burning sensation he felt in his throat Lorente drank water, according to witnesses, something which could have contributed to the corrosive effect of the cleaning fluid in his body.

An ambulance was called and paramedics tried to resuscitate Lorente on the scene, before taking him to hospital, where he died.

The director of the department of Gastroenterology at Castellon General Hospital, Jose Antonio Martin, warned that ingesting even a small amount of such a concentrated liquid can be lethal.

"It starts burning immediately. If it is potent, it can burn and puncture the esophagus and stomach," he said.