‘Rat in can’ probe reaching nowhere

Health Ministry officials are in a quandary as ‘rat in the can’ probe is taking them nowhere. Tribune reported a few days ago about an Asian labourer, who walked into one of the private hospitals in Muharraq, seeking treatment after consuming a soft drink from a can that allegedly contained a dead rat. Footage of the labourer at the hospital had gone viral online.

The video also showed the motionless animal inside the can. The authorities on Friday announced that it couldn’t continue its investigation into the matter as the man who claimed to have found the rodent inside the can, was nowhere to be found and that he had disconnected his mobile phone line.

In a statement posted on its official page on Instagram, Health Ministry confirmed: “Following the circulation of a video on the discovery of a mouse inside a soft drink can, which is from an unknown source and brought by an Asian labourer to a private hospital in Muharraq, a health specialist immediately visited the same hospital to check on the status of the labourer and receive the sample for examination, and subject it to a laboratory examination.”

“Upon the arrival of the specialist, he was informed that the labourer had left the hospital and took the can with him. Several attempts to contact him on the number registered at the hospital records failed, as he had disconnected his line,” the ministry explained further. It was added in the ministry’s statement that a team of health specialists was formed to further investigate the matter and carry out inspections at soft drink factories in the Kingdom. The ministry affirmed that the inspection visits to the factories proved that all safety standards were being followed.