New details emerge about vodka blamed for the deaths of Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones
The grieving father of one of the Melbourne teens who died in a mass poisoning in Laos has spoken out, as new details are revealed about the methanol-laced vodka blamed for the deaths.
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Australian Federal Police have confirmed they are available to assist Laos Police investigate the mass methanol poisoning that has claimed the lives of two Australian teenagers.
It comes after the father of Melbourne teenager Bianca Jones demanded a “full investigation” into the mass methanol poisoning in Laos that claimed the life of his daughter.
Mark Jones made an emotional plea from Udon Thani in Thailand where Bianca passed away last week.
Bianca is one of six people, including her best friend Melbourne teenager Holly Bowles, who have died in a suspected mass methanol poisoning this month.
British lawyer Simone White, 28, Danish women Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, and James Louis Hutson, 57, also died.
At least 14 people became ill but the real figure was likely to be much higher, with some people attending hospital but not reporting it to Laos authorities.
Mr Jones said he wanted answers to the tragedy and concrete steps to avoid it happening again.
The families of Bianca and Holly have launched a GoFundMe page to assist with the costs and to raise awareness about the dangers of methanol poisoning.
“This campaign, organised by the families of Bianca and Holly, aims to raise awareness about the dangers of methanol poisoning — a silent but deadly risk that often claims lives without warning,” they wrote.
“We want to honour the memory of Bianca, Holly, and others impacted by methanol poisoning by turning this tragedy into a mission for change.”
As of Tuesday morning, the campaign had raised $260,000, exceeding its $250,000 target.
“I would like to take this opportunity to urge the Laos government to investigate this to the fullest extent, to make sure this incident doesn’t happen again,” he told Nine News.
“We can’t have the passing of our daughter … not lead to change to protect others.”
The Australian Federal Police confirmed on Sunday that it was ready to assist Laos Police.
“The AFP is liaising with relevant law enforcement officials and will provide assistance or capability if requested,” an AFP statement said.
“The AFP also has a permanently-based liaison officer in the region.”
The AFP has officers based in Laos, along with offices in Thailand and Vietnam, which border the country.
It comes as a British backpacker, who was also staying at Nana Backpackers in Vang Vieng, a tourist hotspot about 90 minutes train ride from the Laos capital Vientiane, revealed she suffered “severe methanol poisoning”.
Lucy Davison said she was speaking out to “stop this from happening again”.
“I would not want anyone to go through what me and my partner have gone through in the last two weeks,” Lucy said.
“It has literally been the worst two weeks of my life.”
Lucy said in a TikTok video that her boyfriend had saved her life by taking her to a private hospital in Vientiane, a 90-minute drive from Van Vieng.
And she warned that her symptoms only started about 15 hours after she consumed the free Tiger Vodka at Nana Backpackers, which was given as a full bottle and shared among a group of 10 people.
Bianca and Holly had been staying at Nana Backpackers and three other victims who were also staying there fell ill on the same night as the Australian teenagers.
Laos Police have detained the manager of the backpackers, who was filmed being interviewed at the hostel earlier this week.
But so far no charges have been laid.
Laos, which shares a border with China, is a one party Communist state.
The country’s state run media, The Vientiane Times, published a statement from the Laos Government.
“The Government of the Lao PDR is profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign tourists in Vangvieng District, Vientiane Province, and expresses its sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to the families of the deceased,” the statement said.
“The Government of the Lao PDR has been conducting investigations to find causes of the incident and to bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with the law.
“The Government of the Lao PDR reaffirms that it always attaches importance and pays attention to the safety of both domestic and foreign tourists.”
Laos Police have been out in force this week, visiting bars across Vang Vieng as well as Nana Backpackers.
The source of the methanol poisoning remains unclear.
Staff at Nana Backpackers have denied they added to the Tiger Vodka being given away as “free shots” during happy hours between 8 and 10pm each night.
There have been reports of methanol poisonings after people visited other venues as well, with local Tiger branded whisky and vodka given away free at many bars.
Tiger Vodka has been described as some of the world’s cheapest alcohol, with a 700ml bottle retailing for less than $1.
Mr Jones said “our daughter was on the trip of a lifetime with one of her best mates.”
“This was meant to be a trip full of lifelong memories, and was to be the first of many,” he said.
“Bianca wanted to explore the world, meet new friends, lead and create change for good.”
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade did not answer questions when asked if it had sought information from Laos authorities about the source of the methanol poisoning.
However, DFAT has no authority to interfere in local investigations.
DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT VODKA BLAMED FOR DEATHS
The suspected methanol-laced vodka blamed for the deaths of six backpackers in Laos, including Australian teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, sells for just 70 cents a bottle.
Tiger Vodka can be bought in Vang Vieng from a retail store in a 700ml bottle for as little as 1000 Kip, the Laotian currency.
Bars could buy the spirits, which are “blended, bottled and distilled in Lao”, for even less.
The discount prices raise questions about why staff at bars or backpacker hostels would add methanol to the spirits to make them go further.
Sources in Laos, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of upsetting the government in the one party Communist state, say it was possible that an error had been made in production.
“Everything is owned by the government, or at least 90 per cent government owned,” a source said.
“This could have been a mistake made at a government owned factory, that is a possible reason as to why it happened.”
A bartender who denied that anything had been added to the Tiger Vodka given away at the backpackers was photographed with a bottle of the spirits the Melbourne girls allegedly drank.
The label says “Vodka Tiger – finest blended, smooth and mellon (sic). Since 1980.”
The spirit is listed as being 40 per cent alcohol by volume, in the same way that liquor bottles are labelled in Australia.
It adds: “Distilled, blended and bottled in Lar PDR. Xatmoungkhoun Village, Naxaythong District, Vientiane, Lao PDR.”
This month’s mass methanol poisoning is not the first time backpackers have died in Vang Vieng.
It was a quiet rural town before Laos started to welcome tourism in the 1990s after it had recovered from being caught in the crossfire in the Vietnam War.
Locals started offering tubing, floating down the river in tractor tyre inners, in 1998 and it became a destination on the Banana Pancake Trail, named after the breakfasts offered in hostels along the route.
The “no rules” town has claimed many lives, with as many as 27 people dying in 2011 due to drowning or diving head first onto rocks in the river that in most places is only knee deep.
Daniel Eimutis, a University of Melbourne student, was 19 when he drowned while tubing in Vang Vieng in January 2012.
His death was just weeks after Lee Hudswell, 26, of Cronulla, Sydney, died when he jumped into the Nam Song river while tubing.
He was taken to hospital on a tuk tuk, a three wheel taxi, but died in the Vang Vieng Hospital an hour after he arrived.
The death toll has not stopped Vang Vieng’s tourism industry, which has tripled in the past decade from 170,000 to 600,000 tourists each year.
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