Circumflex set off for Risoul with 65 members on 5 March. Things went wrong on the third evening in the pub. One of the members collapsed, started to shake and suffered memory loss, says Circumflex chairman Simon Hoek. “We thought that was suspicious, so we immediately contacted the tour operator and impressed upon our own members to look after themselves carefully.” Then, on day four, another two Circumflex members reported in: the same pub, the same complaints. Hoek: “We have been going to Risoul for a number of years and there have never been any problems.”
The three who fell ill did not go to the hospital. A number of medical students took care of them. “At the time, it seemed like the best thing to do. Looking back, it might have been better if blood and urine had been tested to see if they might have been drugged.”
Several rumours about this are going around, because other student associations that were on a winter sports holiday in the French ski village with the same travel organisation, also saw a total of around twenty members becoming unwell. Some even had to be taken to the hospital. Some had blood and urine samples taken. The results of these will be available next week.
The French police have started an investigation. Hoek himself has an idea in which direction the gendarmes should look. “There were three men of roughly forty years’ old, so slightly older than the others. They didn’t drink anything, didn’t dance. They walked around and observed. The women found them intimidating.” After reporting this to security, the students felt that they were not taken seriously.
The Circumflex members involved have all recovered. It is now mainly shock, said Hoek. Risoul again next year? “Most likely not. The next board will decide on that, but I will advise them against it.”