Heartbreak of the father living every parent's worst nightmare as his daughter dies in Laos: Teenager, 19, becomes the sixth to die after 'drink laced with methanol'
The father of a young woman who died after consuming a drink laced with methanol spoke about his heartbreak just hours before her death.
The father of a young woman who died after consuming a drink laced with methanol spoke about his heartbreak just hours before her death.
Holly Bowles, 19, from Melbourne, became the sixth person to die after more than a dozen tourists were left needing hospital treatment.
The group are thought to have drank shots laced with methanol - a colourless liquid that tastes similar to alcohol and is a byproduct of bootlegged liquor. Consuming even a small amount can lead to blindness, multiple organ failure and death.
Ms Bowles passed away in a Bangkok hospital after falling ill following a night out on November 12 in Vang Vieng, Laos.
Her heartbroken father Sean Bowles stayed at her bedside throughout her ten-day fight for life after she was left in a critical condition on life support.
The Australian backpacker died a day after her close friend Bianca Jones, also 19, and hours after British lawyer Simone White, 28, who was staying at the same hostel.
Two Danish women aged 19 and 20 and a 56-year-old American man have also died, with a further 11 still thought to be in hospital.
It was confirmed today that Nanas Backpacker Hostels manager, Duong Duc Toan, is among a number of people who have been detained by police for questioning, but no charges have yet been filed.
Australian Holly Bowles (pictured), 19, passed away at a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, after spending 10 days on life support
Hollys heartbroken father Sean Bowles (pictured) thanked Australians for their support and love just hours before she passed away
Simone White, 28, from Orpington in Kent, died yesterday after drinking free shots at a Laos hostel allegedly laced with methanol
Speaking outside the Bangkok hospital where his daughter was receiving treatment, Mr Bowles said yesterday: [Holly is] in intensive care unit in critical condition shes on life support. Wed just like to thank everyone back home for all the support and love weve been receiving.
Less than 24 hours later, her family announced her death and said: We are so sad to say that our beautiful girl Holly is now at peace.
We find comfort and solace in knowing that Holly brought so much joy and happiness to so many people.
Ms Bowles died just a day after her close friend, with whom she was on the holiday of a lifetime backpacking through Asia.
Canberras foreign minister Penny Wong said: All Australians will be heartbroken by the tragic passing of Holly Bowles.
Just yesterday, Holly lost her best friend, Bianca Jones.
I know tonight all Australians will be holding both families in our hearts.
The pair were taken to hospital on November 13, after they failed to check out of the Nana Backpacker Hostel.
Mr Toan said 100 free shots were given out to guests, including Ms Jones and Ms Bowles, the previous evening and had received no other complaints.
But he denied it was his vodka made the girls sick, insisting alcohol was bought from legitimate sellers and even drank from a bottle to prove it was safe.
Bianca Jones, 19, from Melbourne, sadly died after consuming alleged methanol-laced drinks in Vang Vieng, Laos
The pairs football club in Melbourne said the news was tragic and distressing
In a September video, the best friends were dancing happily together just weeks before their deadly backpacking trip
The three young women had been staying at Nanas Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng
The town is a popular spot for young backpackers, especially those on a gap year or in their early 20s
Hostel manager and bartender Duong Duc Toan (pictured) has reportedly been detained by police
Reviews of the hostel online report free shots from 8pm to 10pm if customers give the site a good online review.
Hostel CCTV shows one of the girls being transported to hospital, before they were sent across the border to Thailand, on the back of a moped.
The best friends were on a dream getaway gap year trip across south-east Asia when authorities suspect they drank poisoned drinks which reportedly contained shots of vodka tainted with methanol.
Thai authorities confirmed that Ms Jones had died due to brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system.
At home, the friends were both players for the Beaumaris Football Club, which said on Wednesday that their situation was tragic and distressing.
By their deeds and involvement in the girls and womens football programs, both Holly and Bianca have become cherished and highly respected members of the Beaumaris Sharks family, the club said.
We acknowledge Holly and Biancas teammates and friends at the club are struggling to come to terms with what has occurred.
Methanol can sometimes wind up in alcoholic drinks in southeast Asia as a cheaper, counterfeit alternative to ethanol.
The Foreign Office has issued guidance to Britons travelling to the country, warning them against consuming replica alcohol brands that may contain hidden amounts of methanol.
It says travellers are warned against consuming replica alcohol brands that may contain hidden amounts of methanol.
The latest advice states: Both male and female tourists have reported having their drink or food spiked with drugs and in some cases been assaulted. Never leave food or drink unattended.
Be cautious about accepting drinks from strangers at bars, clubs, restaurants and parties.
Ms Jones was the fourth person to die after consuming alleged methanol-laced drinks in Vang Vieng, Laos
Ms Whites friend Bethany Clarke, a healthcare worker also from Orpington, took to the Laos Backpacking Facebook group to warn other travellers
Staff at Nana Backpackers Hostel have been interrogated by police who have demanded to see bottles of spirits served on the night the poisoning occurred
Tourists kayaking in the party town of Vang Vieng in Laos where five people have died from alleged methanol poisoning
The Foreign Officer confirmed on Thursday that it was supporting Ms Whites family.
The British national who died on Thursday, was an associate lawyer based in London specialising in intellectual property and technology at American law firm Squire Patton Boggs.
After completing her A-levels at St Olaves Grammar School in Orpington, she studied law at Newcastle University before taking the fast-track course at the BPP law school.
Ms Whites friend, Bethany Clarke, a healthcare worker also from Orpington, took to the Laos Backpacking Facebook group to warn other travellers.
She said: Urgent — please avoid all local spirits. Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free shots offered by one of the bars. Just avoid them as so not worth it. Six of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning.
Ms Clarke added that she became very fatigued and then fainted, then just felt nauseous and then my liver started to shut down after drinking contaminated alcohol.
She continued: I got to the private hospital in time but underwent many infusions and tablets and days of recovery.
Staff at the Nana Backpacker Hostel, which is still operating but not accepting new guests, confirmed that the manager and owner were among those taken in for questioning.
But staff previously vehemently denied shots given at their bar were responsible for the mass poisoning.
Asked about media reports, Denmarks Foreign Ministry said that two Danish citizens have passed away in Laos but that it could not provide specifics for reasons of confidentiality in personal matters.
The US State Department also confirmed the death of a US citizen, aged 56.
Heartbreaking CCTV footage shows a Laos poisoning victim being transported to hospital
Mr Toan said the girls had drank three beverages each between 8pm and 10:30pm before leaving for another venue
Ms Jones and Ms Bowles had booked in a four-night stay at Nana Backpackers Hostel, where they had been drinking and playing cards at the bar on the night they were poisoned.
The best friends were seen at Jaidees Bar, around a kilometre from their hotel, on the day they fell ill.
WhatsApp messages showed the pair then left the hostel and travelled 950m to the beachfront bar, which offers free spirits and has a hard copy drug menu, offering patrons opium, ecstasy and ketamine.
One man who tried to help the Melbourne teens after they began feeling unwell claimed that they drank methanol-laced spirits there.
But Simone White is not reported to have been to Jaidees Bar - which boasts of being the place to be for drinking, talking, smoking, and smiling but no fighting.
As it can take up to 18 hours for the full effects of methanol poisoning to unfold, this could mean the pair did not drink the contaminated alcohol there.
WhatsApp messages show Ms Jones and Ms Bowles visited Jaidees Bar, around a kilometre from the hostel where they were staying
Locals suggested the notorious Jaidee Bar may have links to the Asian mafia, describing it as a dangerous place with links to organised crime, according to The Herald Sun.
Photos on its social media show beaming customers - from students to middle-aged couples - having the time of their lives.
One video of the packed venue captioned it is time to move shows a dimly lit interior full of clubbers with their arms in the air as they sit on each others shoulders and sing.
Other pictures taken in the daytime show off the lush green landscape in the background.
The bar even has a drugs menu, which includes the option of buying weed by the joint or bag, happy brownies, opium, mushrooms and ketamine.
Vang Vieng is a tourist town particularly popular among backpackers seeking partying and adventure sports.
Businesses appeared to be going on as usual on Tuesday evening in the surrounding neighborhood of the hostel bustling with bars and food stalls.
Jasmine Antonius, a Dutch tourist who has been in Vang Vieng for three days, said that she tried to become more careful with drinks after she heard about the case.
I think sometimes youre not really watching how your drinks are being made, she said. I feel now its a wake up call for many people since this happened. So I hope people would take more precaution because its really sad.
Local police have launched an investigation into the poisoning, which is ongoing.
Once famed for temples and processions of Buddhist monks, some of Laos larger towns are now firmly established on the backpacker trail, but are also experiencing record levels of crime and drug-related violence.
Vang Vieng in particular has become known as a gap year party town for teenagers and twenty-somethings seeking hedonism and adrenalin sports.
The former farming village is now at the centre of an investigation after five travellers died after drinking shots thought to have been laced with methanol, a cheaper form of alcohol that can cause severe poisoning or death.
It is Vang Viengs second taste of notoriety. The town previously hit world headlines in 2011 for tourist deaths while tubing, riding in an inflated tractor tyre inner tube down the Nam Song river.
Ramshackle bars sprang up along the banks of the river, each competing to lure backpackers with free shots of the local Lao-Lao rice whisky.
Enterprising bar owners set up rope swings, makeshift zip lines and rickety water slides for gap year revellers to play on and threw ropes to the tubers so they could be pulled in for drinks or happy milkshakes laced with hallucinogens.
The combination of cheap alcohol, a party atmosphere and river games proved wildly popular on the so-called Banana Pancake Trail, a well-trodden path around South East Asia for budget travellers.
The Lonely Planet guide described tubing as one of the rites of passage of the Indochina backpacking circuit.
Vang Vieng - a four-hour bus journey from Laos capital Vientiane - became so popular that at one stage backpackers outnumbered locals by around three to one.
But soon reports began to surface of travellers dying, either from drowning or drinking, or from diving from bars into the river and smashing their skulls on rocks.
Laos is a one-party Communist state, and strict controls on the media meant the deaths often went unreported.
But the authorities finally launched a crackdown in 2011, after 27 tourists were said to have died in Vang Vieng in a single year.
