Staff who served Aussie teens Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones lethal methanol drinks flee Laos as new photo unearthed

Two new cruel twists have emerged after Melbourne teens Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones were killed when backpacker hostel staff served them methanol-laced drinks in Laos. See the video.

Exclusive: The Laos backpackers staff who served the methanol laced-drinks that killed Melbourne teenagers Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones in Laos have fled the country.

An investigation has uncovered that at least two of the people “detained” after the deaths of six people at the Nana Backpackers were now in Vietnam.

It can also be revealed two people went blind from consuming tainted drinks at the hostel in Vang Vieng, a bargain holiday hotspot in the landlocked Southeast Asian country.

Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles died of methanol poisoning in Laos. Picture: 60 Minutes

The departure of key suspects in the poisonings has raised serious questions about the Lao Police probe, with a survivor claiming that their witness statement was only first taken a month after the deadly incident.

No charges have been laid against anyone six months after the deadly incident despite the Australian Government receiving a briefing that charges had been recommended.

An image of the Nana Backpackers taken in May. The backpackers is closed for renovations and signage has been taken down.

When told this week that the bartender and backpackers manager were now in Vietnam, Ms Jones’ father Mark said: “We want the Australian Government to apply as much pressure as they can to bring justice to all those involved in the methanol poisoning of our girls, the Danish girl and the British girl in Laos.”

All of the victims, who also included British lawyer Simone White, 28, Danish women Anne Sofie Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennerveld Sorensen, 21, and American man James Louis Hutson, 57, stayed at Nana Backpackers, which offered free “Tiger” whisky and vodka shots to all guests.

Freja Vennerveld Sorensen, 21, Simone White, 28, and Anne Sofie Coyman, 20. Picture: Supplied

The hostel manager who was in charge when the deaths was tracked down working at a new hostel in Vietnam when contacted via WhatsApp.

“I don’t know, I go home to Vietnam. I have not gone back to Laos, I don’t want to talk,” the former manager, who called himself Pikachu, said in English on a phone call.

When pressed on what happened to the Nana Backpackers workers who were detained after the poisonings, he replied: “I have not gone back to Laos, I don’t want to talk. Maybe one day I go back to Laos but not for a long time. The hostel closed. I have no idea.”

The backpackers’ manager was contacted on the WhatsApp number he provided in person when being interviewed at Nana Backpackers less than 24 hours after news of the poisonings broke in November.

Duang Doc Toan, the Vietnamese bartender filmed serving drinks at the backpackers after the deaths, was now working at the Azalea Hotel, a photograph on his WhatsApp profile reveals.

The photograph shows Toan with a shaved hairstyle, wearing a black uniform behind a marble reception desk.

Bartender Toan is now working at the Azalea Hotel. This image has been taken from Toan’s WhatsApp profile picture.

He did not respond to repeated phone calls and requests for comment on the WhatsApp number he also provided in person when interviewed at Nana Backpackers.

Toan had claimed that Nana Backpackers was not the source of the poisonings in the days after they became public.

He poured a Tiger Vodka and lemonade and had some himself in front of our photographer in an attempt to prove it was safe.

Bartender Duang Doc Toan poured a Tiger Vodka and lemonade and had some himself in an attempt to prove it was safe.

Lao Police had issued a public statement in November last year, announcing that eight Vietnamese nationals who were working at the backpackers had been detained.

A further five people, who were linked to the Tiger distillery, the manufacturer of the drinks served, were also taken in for questioning.

Bethany Clarke, a British woman who was travelling with Ms White, said she was angry no one had been charged.

“We were told in the UK by the Foreign Office that 13 people had been released but their passports had been taken away so it baffles me how they’ve been able to flee the country,” she said.

Ms Clarke also suffered methanol poisoning after consuming “five or six” free shots.

She suffered symptoms of blurred vision, with blood tests taken 27 hours after she had consumed the drinks showing she had methanol levels that could have damaged her optic nerve.

Bethany Clarke (left) with childhood best friend Simone White who died after methanol poisoning while they were holidaying together. Picture: Supplied

Ms White, who had a similar amount of drinks to Ms Clarke, suffered severe vomiting and breathing problems that led to brain damage.

Her mother Sue had to turn off her life support after making a desperate dash from London to be by her hospital bedside.

Ms Clarke said the Australian Government should review its $50 million aid package to Laos.

“They should think about whether this funding is really necessary for Laos if they’re not able to investigate this properly,” she said.

Foreign Minster Penny Wong and the Laos Government’s embassy in Canberra were contacted for comment.

NEW PHOTO SHOWS BLACK TIGER ‘WHISKEY’

By Stephen Drill and Anna Shreeves

A new photograph has revealed the free Tiger “whisky” served at a Laos backpackers where six people died of methanol poisoning was black instead of the manufacturer’s standard brown liquid.

The image taken on the night that British tourist Simone White was poisoned shows the strange coloured spirit poured in a shot, alongside two Tiger Vodka shots.

However, one of the vodka shots unusually has bubbles in it, raising questions about whether it had been mixed with methanol.

Ms White, a lawyer, died on November 21 last year.

Survivor Bethany Clarke, a close friend of Ms White, said she was haunted by the image.

“Our friend drank it, he said it tasted awful, but at the time you think it’s just a spirit abroad. You trust the place you stay to not cause injury or coma or death but here we are,” she said.

An image of the free Tiger whisky and vodka shots being served at the Nana Backpackers in Laos when six tourists were killed by methanol poisoning.

“The only thing that makes sense is that they topped up with something that had a lot of methanol in it.”

Ms Clarke and Ms White both drank the Tiger Vodka.

Tiger Whisky and Vodka cost about $2.50 per bottle, in Laos, compared with around 50 cents for locally produced alcohol.

The homemade alcohol was likely to have been contaminated with methanol, with as little as 25ml – less than a standard shot – enough to kill.

Lao Police interviewed bar staff in the days after the poisonings and inspected the alcohol that the bar was serving.

But it was unclear if police sent any bottles away for forensic testing. The Laos embassy in Canberra has been approached for comment about the investigation but has declined to comment.

Ms Clarke has started an Instagram campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of methanol poisoning, demanding British students are warned in schools.

She has also been encouraging people to drink bottled beer and avoid spirits while on holidays to honour her friend’s legacy.

“You don’t want to ruin people’s holidays but until we can have some testing you just want to tell people, stay clear, drink beer, that’s the slogan we’re using,” she said.

“We didn’t know about any of this, we’re just making sure that anyone who goes away knows about it.”

The incident did prompt a switch in the weeks afterwards.

Backpacker Freya Jennings-Mares said Vang Vieng was “like a ghost town”.

Holly Maughan stayed at Nana Backpackers in Laos and was drinking the free vodka just two weeks before six people were killed as a result of methanol poisoning.

“People were still very wary, no one was touching spirits and were purposely drinking beer instead,” she said.

“It felt weird. It felt like a ghost town. When we did stuff in the evening we would just go for a meal instead of going out.”

Holly Maughan stayed at Nana Backpackers two weeks before the poisonings and was drinking the free vodka, which was given to her friends in full bottles because they were in a group of six.

“We were extremely trusting of it,” she said.

Freya Jennings-Mares visited Laos after the tragedy and described Vang Vieng as ‘a ghost town’.

“When we heard about the poisonings we were extremely freaked out as we were

drinking the same exact alcohol from the hostel just weeks before.

“When you are travelling you trust the hostel bar to be safe from spikings and dangerous alcohol compared to bars outside. It seemed that it was almost a Russian roulette who got

given the contaminated bottles of vodka.”

Originally published as Staff who served Aussie teens Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones lethal methanol drinks flee Laos as new photo unearthed