A travel agents regulator on Tuesday said nearly a dozen visitors from two mainland tour groups fell ill with suspected food poisoning.

Eleven tourists were sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital after experiencing symptoms like vomiting and diarrhoea at noon.

The tourists fell ill as they were visiting a watch shop on Kowloon City Road in To Kwa Wan and several ambulances were deployed to the scene.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said the 11 tourists, aged between 55 and 68 years old, were in stable condition and did not need to remain in hospital.

Meanwhile, the Travel Industry Authority (TIA) said the visitors had dinner at a restaurant in To Kwa Wan on Monday night.

The CHP and the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) inspected the restaurant where the visitors had dinner and took food samples for laboratory testing.

The CFS instructed the restaurant to suspend their operations immediately for cleaning and disinfection.

Officers said the cause of food poisoning could be cross-contamination of food, premature preparation of food or failure to reheat the food thoroughly.

The TIA added the remaining 52 tourists from the tour groups did not exhibit similar symptoms and have proceeded with their travel plans as scheduled.

It said the tour groups were operated by the same travel agent.

Separately, the Tourism Commission said it was highly concerned about the incident and has contacted the TIA to better understand the situation and provide assistance to the visitors concerned.
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Last updated: 2024-09-10 HKT 22:17