NEW DELHI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A 30-year-old Indian businessman reportedly ended up in a hospital after drinking an alcoholic beverage laced with liquid nitrogen that burnt a hole in his stomach.
On April 13, the businessman, whose name has been withheld by the media, went with his friends to a bar in Gurgaon on the outskirts of the Indian capital and drank the new cocktail on the menu. After gulping down one glass, he ordered another.
"Within seconds, my stomach started swelling and I was in unbearable pain. Breathing was also difficult," the unnamed businessman was quoted by the media as saying.
Seeing him gasping for breath, his friends rushed him to a nearby hospital, where doctors found a hole in his stomach upon examination. Doctors had to remove a part of his stomach, as the gas was trapped inside and, with no outlet, burnt a hole.
Dr. Amit Goswami, one of the surgeons who performed the surgery on the man, said he was not optimistic about the patient's survival. "In his case, the abdomen looked like an open book. I was not hopeful of his survival," the doctor was quoted by the media as saying.
Liquid nitrogen, which is the liquefied form of nitrogen gas, has a boiling point of -195.8 degree Celsius and is widely used in gourmet cooking as it magically freezes anything it comes into contact with.
Many pubs in India have also started using liquid nitrogen to give the alcoholic drinks a smokey effect.
