Four tourists die after suspected tainted alcohol poisoning in Laos

Four foreign tourists have died after a suspected mass methanol poisoning from drinking tainted alcohol at a backpacker hotspot in Laos, Western government officials and media said Thursday. Methanol can be added to liquor to increase its potency, but can cause blindness, liver damage and death.

A young Australian woman was the latest confirmed death, and her friend was fighting for her life, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. Two Danish citizens and an American had also died, officials said, after what media said was a night out in Vang Vieng where they drank possibly tainted alcohol.

The group of about a dozen tourists became ill after going out on November 12, according to British and Australian media. UK media reported one British woman was also in hospital in Bangkok after drinking in Vang Vieng.

New Zealand's embassy in Bangkok said it had also been contacted by one of its citizens "who was unwell and may be a victim of methanol poisoning in Laos".

Failure to check out raised alarm

The Vietnamese manager of the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng where Australian media said the two Australian women were staying has been detained for questioning, the Laos tourist police told AFP.

No charges have been made, however, as police are still "investigating," an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Bowles and Jones, both aged 19 from Melbourne, became unwell while staying at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng last week, Australian media reported.

The women drank at the hostel's bar before they went out for the evening, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported.

They failed to check out on November 13, when hostel staff rushed the pair to the hospital.

The Facebook and Instagram pages of the hostel had been deactivated as of Thursday and it was no longer taking bookings on websites.

The hostel could not be reached for comment.

Tourist hotspot

Vang Vieng has been a fixture on the Southeast Asia backpacker trail since Laos' secretive communist rulers opened the country to tourism decades ago.

The town was once notorious for backpackers behaving badly at jungle parties and has since re-branded as an eco-tourism destination.

On their travel advice websites for Laos, UK and Australian authorities warn their citizens to beware of methanol poisoning while consuming alcohol in Laos.

What is methanol poisoning?

Methanol is a toxic alcohol used in industrial and household products like antifreeze, photocopier fluids, de-icers, paint thinner, varnish, and windshield wiper fluid. Colorless, flammable, and with a similar smell, it can be easily confused with its molecular cousin ethanol, which is usually found in alcoholic drinks.

But methanol is toxic to humans, with exposure or ingestion being extremely dangerous if left untreated. Drinking just 25-90 milliliters of it can be lethal, according to the Methanol Institute, a global trade association for the industry.

It is absorbed by the gut in less than 10 minutes, but patients may appear normal for the first 12 to 24 hours after ingestion.

It will then cause nausea, vomiting and severe abdominal pain, followed by hyperventilation and difficulty breathing. Partial or complete blindness from methanol poisoning is common, and if left untreated, it can lead to a coma and even death.

However, in smaller amounts, rapid diagnosis -- within 10-30 hours of ingestion -- and treatment can reduce the severest symptoms. People with suspected methanol poisoning should immediately consult a medical toxicologist or poison center.