Eight Laos hostel staff arrested over poisoning deaths of Brit & 5 other backpackers after drinking ‘methanol shots’
Due to the deadly poisonings of six visitors who were allegedly handed methanol-laced shots, hotel employees in Laos have been placed under arrest.
On Monday, eight workers at Vang Vieng’s Nana Backpacker guesthouse were arrested.
Within hours of consuming free alcohol shots at the party hostel, a British traveler and five other people perished.
According to reports, the eight workers who were arrested are Vietnamese nationals.
After multiple tourists were admitted to the hospital, the hostel’s manager and bartender, Duong Duc Toan, were already under investigation by the local authorities and placed under arrest.
According to reports, as a show of hospitality, hostel guests were given complimentary shots mixed with local Tiger vodka.
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Where the reportedly methanol-laced cocktails were sipped and the precise number of sick visitors still in the hospital are unknown.
Additionally, there have been reports of potential poisoning patients from nearby venues that drank Tiger Vodka.
Toan had earlier disputed that the vacationers could have become ill from any drinks they were provided there.
The addition of Tiger Vodka to the complimentary shots given out during the venue’s happy hour was previously denied by the hostel staff.
Last Thursday, 28-year-old Kentish lawyer Simone White passed away.
Prior to the terrible event, the lawyer and her two friends apparently drank six of these shots each, diluted with Sprite.
According to Sue White, Simone’s mother, the three friends were first “dismissed” by medical professionals who said they had food illness.
Sue went on to say that Simone was delirious and had difficulty breathing by the time they arrived at the ambulance, which they had to wait an hour for.
“I believe that it has already had an impact on her brain.
Following the apparent mass methanol poisoning, two 19-year-old Australian friends, Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, also passed away.
Why is methanol so deadly?
According to Sam Blanchard, The Sun’s health correspondent, METHANOL is a highly hazardous form of alcohol that can be found in drinks if it is added by criminals to make them stronger or if it is brewed or distilled improperly.
A single shot of tainted alcohol might be fatal, and 4 milliliters of methanol could be sufficient to cause blindness. The repercussions could be catastrophic.
According to Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology chemist Prof. Oliver Jones, the body changes methanol into formic acid.
An enzyme that is essential to the body’s usage of oxygen to produce energy is inhibited by formic acid.
If it malfunctions, cells are unable to absorb or utilize oxygen from the blood, and when cells begin to die, a shortage of oxygen leads to issues in many organs.
Seizures, lightheadedness, and vomiting are signs of methanol poisoning.
Methanol poisoning appears to be especially harmful to the optic nerve, which increases the risk of either temporary or permanent blindness and even death.
Although fortunately uncommon, methanol poisoning is extremely dangerous and should only be treated in a hospital.
Getting the patient intoxicated with regular alcohol, or ethanol, is an unexpected but crucial treatment for methanol poisoning because it diverts the liver’s attention and prevents it from digesting the methanol.
Also staying at the Nana Backpacker hostel were the teenagers from Melbourne.
On the morning of November 13, when the teenagers did not check out, hostel personnel sounded the alarm.
As their relatives traveled to be with them, Bianca and Holly were evacuated and taken to different hospitals in Bangkok, Thailand.
Tragically, Bianca passed away on Thursday, and Holly passed away the day after.
“With broken hearts, we are so sad to say that our beautiful girl Holly is now at peace,” Holly’s father Shaun told Nine News.
“We find comfort and solace in knowing that Holly bought so much joy and happiness to so many people.”
Two Danish pals After 13 hours of vomiting blood, Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and her friend Freja Vennervald, 21, passed away.
Employees at the hostel
James Louis Hutson, a 57-year-old American, also passed away.
Finally speaking out about the disaster, the Laotian government promised to “bring the perpetrators to justice.”
They continued: “The government of the Lao PDR reaffirms that it always attaches the importance and pays attention to the safety of both domestic and foreign tourists.”
As previously reported by The Sun, some residents disclosed how a factory fault could have caused this catastrophe, albeit it is yet unknown how these drinks could have been tampered with.
The Sun Herald cited anonymous sources who claimed that Tiger Vodka, which costs 36p a bottle, was produced on a property owned by the communist government of Laos.
According to the source, the government owns everything, or at least 90% of it.
A government-owned factory may have made a mistake, which could be the cause of this incident.
Some have questioned how something less expensive and more hazardous, like methanol, could have been used to poison the already inexpensive beverage.
There will be more later.Stay tuned to The Sun Online for the most recent updates on this story.
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