A backpacker hostel owner has reportedly been arrested after five tourists staying there died in a suspected poisoning.
After falling ill from drinking free shots laced with methanol while in Laos, South East Asia, British lawyer Simone White, from Orpington, Kent, died on Thursday The 28-year-old’s family are being supported following her death by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Mirror reports.
Now, in the popular tourist hotspot of Vang Vieng, the boss of Nana Backpacker Hostel was detained by local police for questioning, ABC reported. Police have not yet named the owner or given an official comment on the development.
Ms White was a lawyer with global law firm Squire Patton Boggs, whose work involved general commercial matters, and contentious and non-contentious intellectual property law issues, according to the firm’s website. The FCDO also said it was also providing consular assistance to British nationals hospitalised in the incident, as well as their families.
An Australian teenager, an American and two Danish tourists, are the four others currently known to have died. Many of the victims were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel – with staff being told that guests had fallen ill after they failed to check out on November 13.
Regarding the British nationals affected, the FCDO said it was in contact with the local authorities. Those poisoned in the incident are believed to have been served drinks tainted with methanol, which is sometimes used by disreputable bars as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, but can cause severe poisoning or death.
Addressing the potential effects of methanol poisoning, Professor Alastair Hay, Professor (Emeritus) of Environmental Toxicology at the University of Leeds, said: “The risk from methanol is twofold. Methanol breaks down in the body to formaldehyde and then formic acid. The formic acid upsets the acid/base balance in blood and the major consequence is initially the effect on someone’s breathing.
“There are effects on many other organs the kidney being one. The disturbance of acid/base balance and disrupted breathing will eventually affect the heart and it will stop functioning. Formaldehyde attacks nerves, particularly the optic nerve and blindness is a potential risk.
“Depending on the severity of poisoning, treatment may require dialysis to remove methanol from blood whilst at the same time keeping someone mildly drunk by administering ethanol. If the poisoning is not too severe, and only blood tests will determine this, ethanol alone may suffice.”
Bianca Jones, 19, died after being evacuated from Vang Vieng for treatment in a Thai hospital, whilst her friend Holly Bowles, also 19, remains in hospital in Thailand, the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament.
Australia said “several foreign nationals” had also been victims of methanol poisoning. The US State Department confirmed that an American had died and Denmark’s Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens also died in “the incident in Laos” but neither would comment directly on a link to the methanol poisoning that killed Ms Jones.
Ms Jones died because of a “brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system”, Thai authorities confirmed. Laos is one of south-east Asia’s poorest nations and a popular tourist destination, with Vang Vieng being particularly popular among backpackers seeking partying and adventure sports.
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