A Laos party town has stopped serving shots after six tourists were killed by “methanol poisoning”.
Night spots in the south-east Asian town of Vang Vieng has suspended the sale of shots following the death of six tourists, including Simone White, 28, a British lawyer who died from suspected methanol poisoning after drinking contaminated alcohol. The town usually offers a traditional Lao whiskey, a rice-based spirit which has proven popular with backpackers in the country.
But tourists from all parts of the world are now saying the selling of shots has been suspended and that they haven’t been able to find any over the last few nights. Australia tourist Aron Stephen said people are “not really scared” and spoke of his inability to find any shots.
“They don’t give shots anywhere now,” he told The Times. “We couldn’t find any in the past few nights.” Fellow Australian backpacker Holly Bowles, 19, died in a Thai hospital just a day after her best friend Bianca Jones. Two Danish travellers Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, and 57-year-old American traveller James Hutson have also died.
It is believed at least 12 others have fallen ill and were in need of hospital treatment, with backpackers everywhere from the UK to New Zealand affected. Unofficial reports from the area suggest a hostel owner and manager have been detained, while further unnamed sources have suggested only the manager is in custody.
Yueng Van Huan, the manager allegedly detained according to sources in the area, says he is certain the poisoned drinks were not sold at the Nana Backpacker Hostel bar. He also strongly denied adding methanol to the drinks and said police had checked his business. The Nana Backpacker Hostel has since been closed.
Five staff members remain at the property, which has a swimming pool and warnings on the bedroom doors relating to alcohol intake. A housekeeper who remains anonymous for security reasons, said: “We have no guests now. The bosses all went to Vientiane [the capital]. I only clean the rooms but I have a job outside too. I am out most of the day. The police came already, but I don’t know how many times.”
Those tourists who are staying in the area are now taking precautions on their late-night escapades and have since said they will be sticking to beer, avoiding the popular rice grain whiskey shots. One UK tourist said: “We arrived yesterday and all we know is what is already in the news. We’ll be fine as long as we stick to beer and be careful. We are not scared of what happened.”
Locals are also horrified by the deaths, with a Norwegian who has lived in Vang Vieng since 2004 saying: “People here don’t drink a lot, but they use lots of drugs. All kinds of drugs. It’s easy to find.”
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