NEWS
TRAVEL WARNING AS SIX TOURISTS DIED FROM METHANOL POISONING IN LAOS PARTY TOWN
By Susan Lewis
25-11-2024
Source: Nana Backpackers Hostel/Trivago
At least six tourists have died after consuming methanol tainted alcoholic drinks in Vang Vieng, an idyllic Laotian town popular with foreign backpackers.
The six deaths are two Danes, two Australians, a Briton and an American, while a New Zealander was also taken ill.
The Laotian government officially acknowledged that the mass poisoning has killed at least six tourists, promising it would bring perpetrators to justice.
In a statement released to media, the government said it was “profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign tourists” and offered its condolences to the families of the victims.
“The government has been conducting investigations to find causes of the incident and to bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with the law,” it said.
Apart from the short statement, very few details about the case have been released. The police said they have detained a number of people, but refused to provide further information.
Details have also been murky over the total number of tourists affected and the possible source of the methanol-laced drinks.
Local media said the owner of Nana Backpackers Hostel where the Australians were staying served locally distilled spirit to over 100 people. They quoted him as saying no one else fell ill.
The US State Department issued a health alert last Friday for citizens travelling in Laos, warning of “suspected methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng, possibly through the consumption of methanol-laced alcoholic drinks”.
Methanol is sometimes added to mixed drinks at disreputable bars as a cheaper alternative to ethanol. It is also a byproduct of poorly distilled homebrew liquor and could have found its way into the drinks unintentionally.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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