Pair hospitalised after 'world’s hottest curry contest'

A 'world’s hottest curry-eating contest' turned into a disaster after two of the participants were admitted to hospital, the Scottish Ambulance Service has said.

The ‘Killer Kismot Curry’ contest, held in aid of a children’s charity, took place at the Kismot Indian restaurant in Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon.

While battling it out, some of the contestants became unwell, reacting badly to the curry by vomiting and fainting.

Competitors were warned in advance that they could be affected during the contest, which involved eating a progressively spicier dish in each round.

According to curry house owner Abdul Ali, half of the diners dropped out after seeing others fall ill.

Medics from the British Red Cross were at the scene but the casualties were too serious for them to deal with and the ambulance service had to intervene.

One of those affected, Korean student Curie Kim, 21, told the ‘Edinburgh Evening News’ how she had to go to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI) twice.

She said: “I've always enjoyed spicy foods and thought this was for a good cause. But it came with a price, I had to be taken to the ERI twice.

“I first went to hospital at around 4pm and the second time was at 9pm. It got really bad. I have never endured such pain in my life.”

Mike Lavin, from Polwarth, came fifth in the contest but was also taken to hospital by ambulance.

Following the incident, a spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We would urge the organisers to review the way in which this event is managed in future in order to avoid another situation where emergency ambulances are required to treat their customers.”

Despite the bad reaction to the hot dishes, there are no plans to cancel next year’s contest.