Staff reporter and Reuters

Chinese hotpot giant Haidilao (6862) said it would fork out as much as 10 million yuan (HK$10.7 million) to compensate over 4,000 diners who had visited one of its outlets in Shanghai after two diners urinated into their hotpot broth.

A video showing two men urinating into the broth of their hotpot while dining in a private room at a Haidilao restaurant started circulating online late last month.

Haidilao said yesterday that the incident occurred on February 24 but the company only became aware of the issue four days later and could not initially determine the time and location.

It showed the case revealed a lack of training procedures, which led to staff's failure to detect the situation promptly.

The company confirmed the location in downtown Shanghai on March 6.

"We fully understand that the distress caused to our customers by this incident cannot be fully compensated for by any means," the company said in a statement. "We are willing to do our utmost to take responsibility."

Haidilao said the restaurant in question replaced all its cookware and tableware and carried out a thorough cleaning and disinfection on March 8.

It will fully refund the meal costs to customers who visited the restaurant between February 24 and March 8 and provide additional cash compensation equivalent to 10 times the order payment, the statement said.

It is expected that the total expense on compensation will exceed 10 million yuan.

Haidilao reported the case to the police in Jianyang, Sichuan, where it is headquartered, and other locations.

The police have since detained two men, both 17 years old, according to a statement issued by Shanghai police.

Haidilao filed a civil lawsuit application against them on Monday, the statement added.

Haidilao forks out 10m yuan in 'peegate' compensation