Laos government 'profoundly saddened' by tourist deaths from ...

BANGKOK – The Laos government said on Nov 23 it was “profoundly saddened” by the deaths of foreign tourists in Vang Vieng town, with the toll from a suspected methanol poisoning incident now at six.

A statement posted on its Ministry of Foreign Affairs website said it expressed “sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to the families of the deceased”, adding that an investigation was under way to find the cause of the incident.

Six tourists died of suspected methanol poisoning after a night out in the Laos backpacker hot spot of Vang Vieng last week.

The six, comprising two Danish citizens, an American, a Briton and two Australians, were among a group of about a dozen foreigners who fell ill shortly after Nov 12.

Australian officials are pressing the Laotian authorities for a full and transparent investigation into what happened.

Vang Vieng has been a fixture on the South-east Asia backpacker trail since Laos’ secretive communist rulers opened the country to tourism decades ago.

The town was once synonymous with backpackers behaving badly at jungle parties but has since rebranded as an ecotourism destination.

The Vietnamese manager of the Nana Backpackers Hostel has been detained for questioning, the Laos tourist police told AFP.

No charges have been made, however. Police in Laos could not be reached for comment on Nov 23.

Alcohol tainted with methanol is suspected to be the cause of the deaths.

Methanol is a toxic alcohol that can be added to liquor to increase its potency but can cause blindness, liver damage and death.

On their travel advice websites, the British and Australian authorities have warned their citizens to beware of methanol poisoning while consuming alcohol in Laos. AFP