Several students from Nijmegen became unwell during a skiing vacation in the French town of Risoul. Earlier, a student association from Utrecht cancelled their vacation in the snow because many people became ill after arrival. Two students from Nijmegen had to be taken away by ambulance and a third is still in hospital.

The French ski resort Risoul and the local bar La Grotte du Yeti were in the news plenty these last few days. Students from Utrecht cancelled their holiday after nine members of a student association became unwell, presumably due to drug poisoning. On social media, stories are shared about a tense atmosphere in the cafes and drugs being put into drinks.

Students from Nijmegen appear to have had bad experiences with Risoul as well. Three student associations recently went on a skiing holiday there. At least one member of each association became unwell: those affected threw up and had shaking legs. Two students received medical attention and had to be taken away in an ambulance and one student is still lying in a Dutch hospital three weeks later.

‘Beforehand we did hear some rumours about Risoul’

But the town itself also left a lot to be desired. It was like a ghost town, says a student from Nijmegen who wants to remain anonymous. The drinking water was polluted, for example, which caused tens of members to become ill – French media already wrote about this previously. Everywhere in the town there were signs saying ‘Stop GHB’, and security guards in the cafes showed strange and transgressive behaviour.

Warning

Two weeks ago, student association Ovum Novum visited the resort with a hundred students. The association is shocked by the fact that one of the members became unwell, according to president Stijn van den Boom. ‘Beforehand we did hear some rumours about Risoul,’ he says. ‘One member had been there a few days before us and had heard stories about injuries. He warned us to pay extra attention.’

However, it was not clear to Ovum Novum that this was a structural problem. ‘You think something like this might happen in a pub. Only now do we understand that this has been the situation there for a long time,’ says the president. ‘In hindsight, we would probably never have gone.’

To be on the safe side, the associations travel committee sent out a warning to all participants before the trip to pay attention to their drinks. That seemed to work. The atmosphere in the pub was good and the holiday fun.

Unwell

Until one student still became unwell. According to the president, nobody can confirm that something was put in her drink. Another student emptied her glass that night because she suspected something was wrong.

Van den Boom says that the student who became unwell did not need medical assistance. She went to bed and was watched closely by her fellow travellers. It ended without serious consequences. Because no doctor was involved, it was never established that it was a case of drug poisoning.

‘In the evening, we often saw an ambulance standing in front of the pub’

In the days that followed, however, the Nijmegen skiers heard the craziest stories. Van den Boom: ‘We talked to some other associations, and it turned out that in every group someone had become unwell. In the evening, we often saw an ambulance standing in front of the pub. That’s when we knew: this is not good.’

Ambulance

The Medical Faculty Association (MFVN) was also in Risoul recently and experienced problems. Beforehand, the association knew nothing of the stories that are now circulating, says a board member (name known to the editors). The first day there was nothing wrong.

‘But after that it quickly went bad,’ says the board member. ‘One student fell ill in the evening. She vomited profusely and had mood swings: one moment she seemed to be in a lot of pain, the next moment she was completely out of this world. It was horrible to see.’

The medical students first checked on her themselves and thought things were going well, but when the situation worsened they called an ambulance. It took a long time for help to arrive, and the ambulance staff were lax in their response to the situation, says the board member. The trip from the café to the hospital was long, about an hour. After treatment, the student could not return to the hotel because there were no more taxis to drive her back. She was only reunited with the others in the morning. She suffered no persisting injuries.

‘Everywhere in the town there were signs with ‘Stop GHB’, which made for a strange atmosphere’

Just like Ovum Novum, the medical students heard similar story from other associations during the following days. Because MFVN had only one day of their vacation left, they decided not to abort the holiday. They did pay extra attention. In the end, they got off scot-free.

Polluted drinking water

A final student association from Nijmegen, who would like to stay anonymous because the situation is very sensitive, says they have experienced a horrible holiday. The association was hit hard three weeks ago: half of their group became ill, the town had an unpleasant atmosphere and one student became unwell.

Members of the association recognize the experiences of Ovum Novum and the MFVN but were hit even harder. It started with the drinking water, says a student. ‘The first day, we were warned by a Dutch girl in a supermarket,’ she says. ‘She told us: do not drink the tap water, because it will make you ill.’ According to French journalists, the water in the town was polluted. They gave a similar warning.

Because of this, all members avoided tap water. Still, a few students became ill: they developed a heavy fever and had to stay in bed. ‘We probably ingested some water while cleaning the dishes or because we rinsed our toothbrush, or the beer is diluted with tap water,’ a student explains. ‘We can not say for certain that the water was the cause.’

According to the students, half of the travel company became ill and spent time in bed, spread out over the entire holiday. Because of that, skiing and partying with the whole group didn’t really happen.

The town

Then there are still the accommodation and the town. They are both ’terrible’, says one student. ‘The complex where we slept was very dirty. Everywhere in the town there were signs with ‘Stop GHB’, which made for a strange atmosphere. When we needed medical assistance, it was nowhere to be found.’

The students also have bad stories about the infamous bar. Security guards would show ‘all kinds of transgressive behaviour’. The atmosphere there was tense.

‘We are never coming back to this town’

One member of this association became unwell. Because of the privacy of the affected student, the association does not want to make any precise statements. The association also does not want to speculate about what could be the cause of her complaints. The student was admitted to a French hospital and later transferred to a Dutch hospital. Now, three weeks later, she is still there. ‘We hope everything will turn out okay,’ the students say, visibly affected by the whole situation.

Complaint

The three associations have filed a complaint with their travel agency, who they do not want to name because they are still finalising how their complaint will be handled. Ovum Novum says they have not received a response to their letter, the MFVN will be talking to the organisation on Tuesday.

Among themselves, the students are now warning each other about the popular ski resort Resoul. There is one thing the associations from Nijmegen all agree on: ‘We are never coming back to this town.’

The names of the associations and their students are known to the editors.