Laos methanol deaths: hostel owner, staff arrested as families of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles make desperate plea

Employees of a Laotian hostel were detained as the grieving families of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles brought their daughters’ bodies back to Australia.

Laos police have arrested the owner, manager and six staff members of the Laotian hostel at the centre of a spate of fatal ­methanol poisonings as the ­grieving parents of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles brought their daughters’ bodies back to ­Australia.

The two families welcomed news of the eight arrests late on Tuesday after arriving back in Melbourne from Bangkok with the bodies of their teenaged children, but also appealed to the federal government to maintain pressure on Laos authorities.

Six foreign backpackers have now died and as many as 12 more – including a dual Australian nat­ional – have been hospitalised from suspected methanol poisoning as a result of drinking tainted alcohol in the Laotian party town of Vang Vieng.

Melbourne teen Bianca Jones died as a result of the methanol poisoning tragedy. Picture: Facebook

The third Australian is in a ­stable condition in a Thai hospital and receiving consular support, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said.

The Laos government this week expressed sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to the families of all six deceased, adding that an investigation was under way into the cause of the incident.

Under Laos law, individuals found guilty of violating food safety regulations resulting in multiple deaths may face up to 10 years in jail and fines ranging from $353 to $3536.

Two young Danish women and an American died in Laos while Ms Jones, Ms Bowles and a sixth victim, British lawyer Simone White, 28, died in Thailand after being evacuated to hospitals there for intensive care treatment.

Ms Jones’s father said authorities “cannot” allow the tragedy to happen to anyone else.

“We miss our daughters desperately. I was happy to hear there’s been some movement over in Laos,” Mark Jones, flanked by Holly’s father Shaun Bowles, told reporters at Melbourne’s ­Tullamarine airport on Tuesday evening.

“We cannot have our girls passing and this continue to happen. I would continue to urge our government to continue to pursue whomever.

“We will make every effort we can to help raise awareness of methanol poisoning.”

Head of the Vang Vieng District Security Forces Phut Buathong Boriban confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that all eight people detained over the suspected mass methanol poisoning worked at the Nana Backpacker Hostel in Vang Vieng, where many of the victims had stayed.

Among detainees named was Nana Backpackers Hostel owner Duong Van Huan and manager Duong Duc Toan, who reportedly served more than 100 guests free shots of vodka the night of the poisoning.

Duong Duc Toan, the manager of Nana Backpack hostel, holds up a bottle of vodka at the hostel. He has been arrested over the deaths. Picture: AP

All those arrested are believed to be Vietnamese nationals, aged 23 to 47, from Viengkeo village in the Vang Vieng district.

There was no suggestion those detained were responsible.

Authorities shut down the hostel last week after confirming that five of the six victims had been guests there.

The four other tourists who died after the suspected poisoning were American James Louis Hutson, 57, Ms White, and two Danish travellers Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21.