An exterior of the Bangkok Hospital Udon, where an Australian teenager was taken after drinking alcohol contaminated with methanol in Laos and passed away, in Udon Thani province, 21 October 2024;
Credit: Reuters/Stinger
SYDNEY/BANGKOK (Reuters) - An Australian teenager died on Thursday 21 November 2024 after drinking alcohol contaminated with methanol in Laos, Thai police and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, the fourth foreign national now suspected to have died in the incident.
Bianca Jones, 19, fell ill last week in Vang Vieng, a town in the Southeast Asian nation popular with foreign backpackers that is about two hours north of the capital Vientiane by road.
She died on Thursday after being taken to a hospital in neighbouring Thailand on 13 November 2024, police in the city of Udon Thani said.
"The physician who examined her said the cause of death was a methanol poisoning, from fake liquor," Phattanawong Chanphon, a police official in the Thai city, told Reuters. "The amount of methanol in her body was high, leading to swelling of the brain."
Australian media said Jones was the fourth foreign tourist to die after consuming the contaminated alcohol, following two Danes and an American.
"This is every parent's worst fear and a nightmare no one should have to endure," Albanese told parliament on Thursday. "All Australians offer them our deepest sympathy in this time of heartbreak."
Jones' friend Holly Bowles, also 19, is in critical condition in hospital, Albanese said.
Spurious liquor is a problem in Laos, with the governments of Australia and the United Kingdom warning citizens to be cautious when taking drinks there.
Methanol is a toxic alcohol that is used industrially as a solvent, pesticide and alternative fuel source, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website.
