Laos pledges justice after suspected tainted alcohol kills tourists 

The Laos government has pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice following the deaths of several foreign tourists from consuming tainted alcohol.

An investigation was under way into the suspected methanol poisoning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday, expressing its condolences to the families.

In a brief statement, the ministry said it was “profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign tourists” in the town of Vang Vieng, a hotspot for backpackers 130km (80 miles) north of the capital, Vientiane.

The authorities are conducting probes “to find causes of the incident and to bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with the law”.

The ministry did not say how many tourists were killed, that information coming from foreign governments and a local newspaper, which reported at least six deaths.

Australian Holly Bowles, 19, died in a Bangkok hospital on Friday, a day after 19-year-old Australian Bianca Jones died in a hospital also in the Thai capital.

Australia is pressing Laotian authorities for a full and transparent investigation into what happened.

The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said lawyer Simone White, 28, died and it was in contact with local authorities in Laos.

The Laotian Times newspaper reported that two Danish citizens and a United States national were among the victims of the mass poisoning incident.

They were among a group of about a dozen foreigners who fell ill and were rushed to hospital shortly after November 12.

Citing the government on Saturday, the newspaper identified the Danish women aged 20 and 21, saying they died at a hospital in Vientiane on November 13.

Two Australian nationals who were evacuated to Thailand for treatment died at a hospital in Bangkok [Chanakarn Laosarakham/AFP]

The US Department of State said a man had died in the same town. He was found by staff unresponsive in his room with several bottles of alcohol, according to The Laotian Times.

In a statement, the US embassy in Vientiane said on Friday that it was “aware of a number of cases of suspected methanol poisoning” in Vang Vieng, “possibly through the consumption of methanol-laced alcoholic drinks”.

It advised its citizens to “be alert” to the potential risk of methanol poisoning, adding that alcoholic beverages should only be bought from “licensed” dealers.

Vang Vieng has been a fixture on the Southeast Asia backpacker trail since the government opened Laos to tourism decades ago.

The Vietnamese manager of the Nana Backpackers Hostel where the tourists were staying has been detained for questioning, tourist police told the AFP news agency. But no charges have been filed so far.

Alcohol tainted with methanol, which is usually used in industrial and household products like antifreeze, is suspected to be the cause of the deaths.

It can be added to liquor to increase its potency but can cause blindness, liver damage and death.