Eight detained by police over Laos backpacker deaths: local media

Singapore: Eight people linked to the Nana Backpackers Hostel have been detained by police in the Laos village of Vang Vieng after the deaths of six tourists in a suspected drink-poisoning incident, local media have reported.

Those detained are the management and staff of the hostel, Laophattana News reported, linked to the deaths of Danish tourists Anne-Sofie Coyman, 20, and Freja Sorensen, 21, and American man James Hutson, 57. All three had been staying at the hostel.

Danish backpackers Anne-Sofie Coyman (left) and Freja Sorensen, who died in Laos.

The report said police had made no mention of the three other tourists who died in the suspected mass poisoning, including Australians Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, who had also been guests at Nana. The pair were taken to different hospitals in Thailand and later died.

British lawyer Simone White, 28, was the sixth known person to have died.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that a third Australian also fell ill as part of the suspected poisoning in Vang Vieng. The person is believed to be a dual national who is in a stable condition and being supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Those arrested are reportedly all male and aged between 23 and 47. Police late last week ordered the closure of Nana hostel and questioned the venue’s manager in the Laotian capital, Vientiane, on Friday.

Speaking in the days after the suspected poisoning became public, the manager of Nana, Duong Duc Toan, said staff were told by other guests that the two Australian women were unwell after they failed to check out as planned on November 13, and they arranged transport to a hospital for them.

Bianca Jones (left) and Holly Bowles died after a suspected mass drink poisoning.

Toan said that two days earlier, the women had joined more than 100 other guests for free shots of Lao vodka offered by the hostel as a gesture of hospitality. He said no other guest reported any issue, adding that the women had then gone out for the night, returning in the early hours of the morning.

The hostel manager said he hoped the investigation would clear Nana’s name.

Since then, however, other backpackers have come forward to claim that hostel staff did little to assist those affected and questioned how seriously they took the guests’ illnesses.

News of the eight being detained came after the families of the Australian victims and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade called on the Laos government to ensure a proper investigation took place into what had caused the deaths.

Duong Duc Toan, the manager of Nana Backpackers Hostel, displays a bottle of vodka in the bar of the hostel.Credit: AP

Speaking at the weekend on behalf of both Australian families, Bianca Jones’ father, Mark Jones, urged the Laos government to investigate the incident to the “fullest extent” so that the tragedy would not happen again.

“We can’t have the passing of our daughter … not lead to change to protect others,” he said.

DFAT said it was working with officials in Thailand and Laos to determine what had happened.

“We are clear with our Lao counterparts that Australians expect those investigations to be thorough and transparent to try to prevent a repeat of such tragic events,” DFAT said in a statement.

“We have also brought together representatives from other countries who have citizens impacted, including Denmark, UK, US, and others to co-ordinate approaches.”

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