Laos poisoning: Danish backpackers vomited blood for 13 hours before they were found dead in hostel

Two other backpackers among those dead after the mass poisoning event at a Laos hostel sent chilling text messages to a friend.

Two Danish backpackers who died in a mass poisoning in Laos messaged a friend to say they had been vomiting blood for hours before they went eerily silent, and were later found deceased.

The two women drank from the same batch of alcohol thought to have been spiked with methanol that also left four others dead, including Australian teenagers Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, while another 11 foreign nationals remain in hospital fighting for life.

Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, originally from the Denmark town of Roskilde, had been backpacking across south east Asia in what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime.

They were staying at Nana Backpackers in Vang Vieng, Laos, and had been planning to meet up with a Belgian man they had met earlier in their travels.

Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, is among the dead.

Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, has also died.

The two Danes told their friend they had been throwing up blood for hours on end and then went quiet, prompting him to spend several days searching for them before learning they had died.

It prompted a warning online, with a friend of the Belgian backpacker sharing his anguish at the situation.

‘The past few days I have been busy with a Belgian friend looking for two girls he travelled with,” the man wrote.

“For more than 72 hours, no contact could be made while they had agreed to meet in Vang Vieng.

‘The strange thing was that their last message was that they had both been vomiting blood for 13 hours … They have both since died.”

Local police reports stated that Ms Sorensen and Ms Coyman drank at the hostel bar on November 12 and then visited some other local bars.

They got back to their room around midnight but then stayed there.

Staff found them about 6pm the next day, lying unconscious on their bathroom floor.

They were rushed to hospital but were reportedly declared dead at about 3.30am local time on November 14.

The hostel where all the poison victims were staying.

Nana Backpackers Hostel bar tender Toan Van Vanng pours in the same Vodka and Coke drink the girls had and drinks it.

It comes as the deadly batch of alcohol is believed to have killed two Melbourne backpackers, Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, both aged 19.

It is understood that the Melbourne teens consumed deadly cocktails while visiting the tourist town of Vang Vieng, located around 130km north of the Laotian capital, Vientiane.

They were staying at Nana Backpackers Hostel and consumed drinks at the bar on November 11 before heading out to another venue, staff at the hostel have claimed.

The pair spent the next day sleeping in their room and came out to tell staff they “couldn’t breathe” and needed to go to hospital, the Herald Sun reported.

One hostel worker, who went by the nickname Pikachu, said the girls sought help from reception staff and were gravely unwell.

The women had reportedly come down to the hostel bar for 8pm happy hour and had a few drinks before heading out to a party around 10.30pm

Ms Jones and Ms Bowle died a day apart in Thai hospitals this week after falling ill with suspected methanol poisoning.

Melbourne friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles were on a dream holiday in Southeast Asia when they fell critically ill. Credit: 7NEWS

Melbourne teen Bianca Jones died on Thursday. Picture: Facebook

Holly Bowles passed away a day after her friend, on Friday. Picture: Facebook

The Laotian government has promised to bring perpetrators to justice.

On Saturday, they released a statement saying the nation was “profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign tourists”.

“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,” it said.

The owner of a backpacker hostel, Duong Duc Toan, has been detained by police for questioning in Laos but has not been charged with anything.

Nana Backpackers bartender Toan Van Vaang denied that Ms Jones and Ms Bowles had been poisoned at the hostel’s bar.

He poured a vodka and Coke Zero, the same drink as the women had been drinking, and took a sip himself to prove it was safe, the Herald Sun reported.

Mr Van Vaang said the vodka was purchased from a distributor and staff never watered it down or added to the bottle.