Australian teenager Bianca Jones dies following methanol poisoning in Laos; death toll rises to five

A British lawyer has become the fifth victim, passing away just hours after Melbourne teenager Bianca Jones, 19, died after drinking alcohol laced with methanol while on holiday with her best friend in Southeast Asia.

Melbourne teen Bianca Jones has died. Picture: Supplied

A British lawyer has died in Laos, becoming the fifth fatality linked to a suspected spate of poisonings from methanol-tainted alcohol.

Simone White, from Orpington in Kent, was among a group of backpackers taken to hospital, after she became ill last week in the tourist hotspot of Vang Vieng.

British woman Simone White who died from the Laos poisoning.

Ms White, 28, was an associate lawyer specialising in intellectual property and technology in London at the American law firm Squire Patton Boggs, The Times reports.

Her friend Bethany Clarke, a healthcare worker who is also from Orpington, had written on the Laos Backpacking Facebook group: “Urgent — please avoid all local spirits. Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free shots offered by one of the bars. Just avoid them as so not worth it. Six of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning.”

Two Danish women aged in their 20s and an American are among those reported to have died after the incident. About a dozen others are believed to have been left seriously unwell.

Ms White’s death came just hours Bianca Jones died after the Australian teenager was also poisoned by drinks laced with methanol while on holiday with her best friend in Southeast Asia.

Ms Jones and her friend, Holly Bowles, both 19, were on their “dream getaway” when they fell critically ill in the suspected mass poisoning in Laos.

Ms Jones’s family confirmed her death in a statement to the Herald Sun on Thursday.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share the news that our beloved daughter and sister, Bianca Jones, has passed away,” they said.

“She was surrounded by love, and we are comforted by the knowledge that her incredible spirit touched so many lives during her time with us. We want to express our deepest gratitude for the overwhelming support, love, and prayers we’ve received from across Australia.

“The kindness shown to our family during this unimaginable time has been truly humbling.

“We kindly ask for privacy as we navigate through our grief and begin to heal. Thank you for respecting our family’s space. With heartfelt appreciation, Mark, Mich­elle and Lachlan Jones.”

Nick Heath, president of the Beaumaris Football Club where Ms Jones was a “cherished and highly respected” member, said on Thursday afternoon that her family had turned off life support a few hours earlier.

Bianca Jones.

Mr Heath said Ms Jones’s family made the “very difficult decision once all hope was exhausted that she wouldn’t wake up” and “once all the extended family members had managed to get there so that they could all be there at that time”.

He said he was focused on how the club could support Ms Jones’s family and would propose a GoFundMe page be released in the next day or so: “We’ve been overwhelmed by people asking how they can support and the football club will propose to the family some kind of GoFundMe arrangement to relieve them of the financial burden of bringing Bianca home and to send her off.”

A US citizen reportedly died in Vang Vieng, while the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that two Danish citizens died in Laos.

This comes as an account of two tourists who died emerged from health officials in Laos. The account provided that two people, believed to be Danish citizens, died at a hospital in Laos’s capital, Vientiane, on November 13 and 14 after being transferred there from a hospital in Vang Vieng.

Both tourists were reported to have exhibited similar symptoms including tiredness, restlessness, profuse sweating, rapid breathing, rapid heart rate, unconsciousness and sudden deterioration of the circulatory and respiratory systems. One is reported to have attended a party with friends in Vang Vieng on the evening of ­November 12.

Ms Bowles and Ms Jones were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel in Vang Vieng when they became ill last week.

The hostel’s bartender told media the women were not poisoned by drinks from his bar, with an employee telling The Australian the pair went out drinking at a bar in town.

Ms Bowles and Ms Jones’s families flew to Thailand to be by their sides as they fought for their lives in separate hospitals there.

On Wednesday, Ms Bowles’s father, Shaun Bowles, said his daughter remained on life support in Bangkok.

Mr Heath on Thursday said the Beaumaris Football Club, where she is also a member, had no further news on her condition.

It’s understood at least 10 other people became ill following the suspected poisoning. A New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson confirmed the New Zealand embassy in Bangkok was contacted by one New Zealander who was unwell and may have been a victim of methanol poisoning in Laos.

Anthony Albanese said his thoughts were with Ms Jones’s family and friends, who were grieving “a terrible and cruel loss”.

“This is every parent’s worst fear and a nightmare no one should have to endure,” the Prime Minister told parliament on Thursday. He said he was also thinking of Ms Bowles.

Peter Dutton offered his “heartfelt condolences”, as did Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who also urged parents of young travellers to discuss the risks of drink spiking. “Please let’s work together to ensure this tragedy doesn’t happen again,” she said.