She only discovered Zhuoga had died after being discharged.<\/p>\n
Sickness swept through the $9-a-night accommodation, with multiple guests admitted to medical centres and the BIMC hospital. Photo \/ Hostelworld<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was too sick to move or call for help, lying in her bunk vomiting for hours while other guests scrambled for assistance,\u201d Li told the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI managed to ask for help and got taken to a medical centre three times and then they called an ambulance for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked them to get a doctor and when I got to the hospital I messaged her to go in too, but I never got a reply.\u201d<\/p>\n
Li, with other guests, including German travellers Melanie Irene and Alisa Kokonozi, Saudi national Alahmadi Yousef Mohammed, Filipino guest Cana Clifford Jay and another Chinese tourist, Leslie Zhao, were later named as victims in the official Kuta Police report.<\/p>\n
Inspector Ahmad confirmed that because of the number of guests reporting identical symptoms, further investigation of the hostel would be carried out.<\/p>\n
Li also tragically learned her friend had been alone when she died.<\/p>\n
According to the Badung Police investigation chief, the hostel\u2019s receptionist, Maria Gores, checked on Zhuoga shortly before her shift ended at midnight and became alarmed by her condition.<\/p>\n
Deqing Zhuoga was taken to a doctor by hostel staff but was sent back to her room, where she later died alone. Photo \/ Bali Police<\/p>\n
Gores called security to help lift her into a taxi and accompanied her to a nearby clinic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctor provided initial treatment but, due to lack of funds, only prescribed medication,\u201d Inspector Ahmad said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey bought the medicine from a nearby pharmacy and returned to the hostel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zhuoga was back in her bunk by 1.30am but the next morning, receptionist Eka Ayu realised she had not checked out.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knocked on the door. After unlocking it, she found the victim lying face down,\u201d Inspector Ahmad said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe manager checked for a pulse but there was no breathing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The official cause of death was recorded as acute gastroenteritis and hypovolaemic shock, but the true origin of the poisoning remains unconfirmed.<\/p>\n
Li alleges her test results pointed to a more sinister cause: \u201cMy attending doctor has confirmed it was pesticide poisoning and food poisoning.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also claims that the previous night she saw an adjacent room closed off and quarantined after a bedbug fumigation.<\/p>\n
This accusation is supported by reports from other guests. Tourist Leslie Zhao, 29, checked in just hours after hospitalisations began, and said she \u201calmost died\u201d after vomiting and fainting for more than seven hours, and when she called staff for help, \u201cno one came\u201d.<\/p>\n
More than 20 people reportedly fell ill during the outbreak, with at least 10 in critical condition, and multiple guests believe there may be a cover-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are trying to cover it up and I just want to warn people so this does not happen to anyone else,\u201d Li said.<\/p>\n
Online reviews show that concerns about bed bugs at the hostel predate the poisoning.<\/p>\n
One guest from July wrote: \u201cMy only complaint would be the fact that the front desk was not honest about the bed bug infestation \u2013 I overheard cleaners talking about it when they came into my empty room early in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clandestino staff told news.com.au they \u201chave been fully co-operating from the very beginning, and hope that everything can be clarified and resolved as soon as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur thoughts remain with everyone affected, and we are doing everything we can to support the process,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been an extremely difficult and delicate situation for everyone involved. At this time, the case is still under investigation by the local authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
But an October review from a guest argued staff are \u201ccarrying on like it\u2019s normal\u201d.<\/p>\n
Online complaints about bedbugs predated the incident. Photo \/ Hostelworld<\/p>\n
\u201cThis place needs to be shut down,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cA woman literally died \u2026 how does this place still exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bali remains one of Australia\u2019s most popular holiday destinations, with roughly 1.5 million Aussies visiting Bali in 2024, making up nearly a quarter of all international arrivals to the island.<\/p>\n
However, that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s always safe. In a separate and deeply disturbing case, 23-year-old Queensland man Byron Haddow died in Bali, only for his body to be returned to Australia without his heart.<\/p>\n
His family has raised grave questions about the handling of his death, and a coronial investigation is under way.<\/p>\n
So while millions of Australians travel to Bali each year without incident, reports like these \u2013 involving illness, possible poisoning and fatal outcomes \u2013 serve as a stark reminder.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re planning to stay in a hostel, research reviews carefully and don\u2019t ignore any red flags.<\/p>\n
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She only discovered Zhuoga had died after being discharged. Sickness swept through the $9-a-night accommodation, with multiple guests…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9055,74,806,88339,31272,96489,11357,65188,6179,7126,15356,11784,71,42,2241,28750,3298,5840,27612,43,2682,88069,8841,19554,61,40,38,41,39,17489,1315,32951,1455,3608,1354,4741],"class_list":["post-142677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-9055","tag-after","tag-as","tag-backpackers","tag-bali","tag-bedbugridden","tag-budget","tag-chilling","tag-died","tag-dies","tag-emerged","tag-fatal","tag-from","tag-headlines","tag-hospital","tag-hospitalised","tag-hostel","tag-least","tag-mass","tag-news","tag-others","tag-poisoning","tag-suspected","tag-taken","tag-to","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-tourist","tag-trip","tag-turns","tag-warning","tag-were","tag-woman","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}