Indonesia’s popular tourist destination Bali has once again been rocked by a tourism safety incident. A 24-year-old Chinese female tourist checked into a hostel in Canggu, Bali—where nightly rates were just US$9 (37 Ringgit)—and was found dead, half-naked on her bed, suspected to be the result of a mass poisoning. At least 10 other guests from the same hostel required hospitalization, one of whom was admitted to intensive care.
The hostel involved is a local youth hostel. According to Indonesian police and foreign media reports, the deceased, Dechen Zuoge (transliteration), began feeling severely unwell and was incessantly vomiting late on August 31. Noticing her critical condition, a night-shift employee and a security guard took her to a nearby clinic. However, faced with steep medical costs, she refused further treatment and simply went to a pharmacy—accompanied by staff—to purchase medicine, after which she returned to the hostel to rest.
CCTV footage shows her returning to her dorm bed at 1:30 a.m. However, on the morning of September 1, when front desk staff noticed she did not check out as scheduled, they knocked but received no response. Upon unlocking the door, they found her wearing only an unbuttoned blue shirt, half-naked and lying face down on the bed, with no signs of life. A trash bin beside the bed was filled with vomit. The coroner estimated the time of death to be between 2 to 12 hours prior.
According to the Daily Mail, Dechen Zuoge’s death has caused great concern locally, especially since the hostel had been thoroughly disinfected for bed bugs just three days prior. Autopsy results indicate she died from acute gastroenteritis, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalance resulting in “hypovolemic shock.” Although the precise source of poisoning remains unknown, the report notes death may have been avoided with timely and proper medical treatment.
● Roommate of the deceased in ICU for 5 days, narrowly escapes death
Aside from the deceased, at least 20 hostel guests reportedly experienced vomiting, fainting, and even vomiting blood that same night, with 10 requiring hospital care. The deceased’s roommate, Li Leila (transliteration), spent five days in intensive care before recovering. She recalled meeting the deceased on the evening of August 31 when they shared dinner with other guests. Hours later, guests started collapsing in succession, some vomiting violently, others falling in the corridors—"the whole hostel seemed to be struck by an invisible illness."
By the morning of September 1, the situation had deteriorated further as more guests were rushed to hospital, some showing signs of vomiting blood. Li Leila herself was so ill she couldn't get out of bed and needed emergency medical attention: “When the ambulance took me, Dechen Zuoge was already so sick she couldn’t move and was still vomiting for hours.”
Li Leila told reporters that hospital tests showed it was not a simple case of food poisoning: Doctors confirmed pesticide poisoning combined with food poisoning. However, the Daily Mail cited initial police toxicology results indicating no signs of pesticide, cyanide, heavy metals, toxic chemicals, or alcohol in the victim’s stomach.
● Body moved to multiple morgues, hindering family’s search
Furthermore, reports state that Dechen Zuoge’s parents, unable to speak English, spent days searching for their daughter, making repeated phone calls and leaving messages to no avail, and could only ask friends to post missing-person notices online. It was not until September 6, four days after her death, that relatives contacted the hostel. The hostel merely replied they should “contact the police or embassy themselves,” offering no help or contact information; it was later discovered the hostel also misreported her nationality, hindering the family’s search via the embassy.
Even more distressing, Dechen Zuoge’s body was moved multiple times to different morgues with no identifying information, making the family’s efforts to locate her remains even more difficult.
Ultimately, Dechen Zuoge’s parents decided not to pursue the matter any further. Guided by a local monk, they believed continued investigation would disturb their daughter’s soul at rest. However, friends and surviving guests vowed to keep pressuring the government to shut down the hostel: “If it isn’t closed, it’s only a matter of time before there’s another death—we’ve already lost a life.”
Police are still investigating the case, including testing the deceased’s medication and food sources, and probing whether mass food poisoning was involved. For now, the hostel remains in normal operation.