Simone White is the latest victim after guests at a hostel were allegedly served poisoned alcohol
A British woman has died after allegedly being served alcohol poisoned with methanol in Laos. Simone White was among a number of people taken to hospital following the incident in the popular backpacking town of Vang Vieng last week.
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed they were supporting the 28-year-old’s family following her death. Ms White was a lawyer with global law firm Squire Patton Boggs, whose work involved general commercial matters, and contentious and non-contentious intellectual property law issues, according to the firm’s website.
Ms White was from Orpington in Kent. The FCDO also said it was also providing consular assistance to British nationals hospitalised in the incident, as well as their families. Four others are currently known to have died, including an Australian teenager, an American and two Danish tourists.
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According to reports this morning, another person has died after the alleged poisonings. The Mirror has named her as Australian teenager Holly Bowles. The family of the 19-year-old confirmed she had died in hospital in Bangkok on Friday, surrounded by her loved ones.
Many of the victims were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel – with staff being told that guests had fallen ill after they failed to check out on November 13. The FCDO said it was in contact with the local authorities regarding the British nationals affected.
Those poisoned in the incident are believed to have been served drinks tainted with methanol, which is sometimes used by disreputable bars as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, but can cause severe poisoning or death.
Laotian police have detained the manager and owner of the hostel. An officer at Vang Vieng’s Tourism Police office said a “number of people” had been detained in the case, but no charges have been filed yet.
Staff at the hostel, which is still operating but not accepting new guests, confirmed that the manager and owner were among those taken in for questioning. Tourist police offices are common in south-east Asia and are set up specifically to help with incidents involving tourists and other foreigners.
The US State Department issued a health alert for citizens travelling in Laos, warning of “suspected methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng, possibly through the consumption of methanol-laced alcoholic drinks”, following similar alerts from other countries whose citizens were involved.
Addressing the potential effects of methanol poisoning, Professor Alastair Hay, Professor (Emeritus) of Environmental Toxicology at the University of Leeds, said: “The risk from methanol is twofold.
“Methanol breaks down in the body to formaldehyde and then formic acid. The formic acid upsets the acid/base balance in blood and the major consequence is initially the effect on someone’s breathing. There are effects on many other organs, the kidney being one. The disturbance of acid/base balance and disrupted breathing will eventually affect the heart and it will stop functioning.
“Formaldehyde attacks nerves, particularly the optic nerve and blindness is a potential risk. Depending on the severity of poisoning, treatment may require dialysis to remove methanol from blood whilst at the same time keeping someone mildly drunk by administering ethanol. If the poisoning is not too severe, and only blood tests will determine this, ethanol alone may suffice.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament that 19-year-old Bianca Jones died after being evacuated from Vang Vieng for treatment in a Thai hospital. Australia said “several foreign nationals” had also been victims of methanol poisoning.
The US State Department confirmed that an American had died and Denmark’s Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens also died in “the incident in Laos” but neither would comment directly on a link to the methanol poisoning that killed Ms Jones.
Thai authorities confirmed Ms Jones died because of a “brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system.” Landlocked Laos is one of south-east Asia’s poorest nations and a popular tourist destination. Vang Vieng is particularly popular among backpackers seeking partying and adventure sports.
