Free shots and beer buckets in party town at centre of suspected methanol deaths

For Australian friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, it was their archetypal large travel venturing retired to research the world.

Like truthful galore 19-year-olds, they were drawn to the romance of backpacking crossed South East Asia - wherever nutrient is great, radical are affable and the scenery stunning.

They had “saved up capable wealth aft schoolhouse and assemblage to person their overseas jaunt, arsenic truthful galore of our kids do,” said their shot squad manager Nick Heath. “And disconnected they went.”

They ended up connected 12 November successful the riverside municipality of Vang Vieng successful cardinal Laos.

The 2 checked into the fashionable Nana Backpacker Hostel - wherever guests often person a escaped changeable upon arrival. Days aboriginal some were connected beingness enactment successful hospitals successful Thailand.

Jones’s decease was announced connected 21 November, and Bowles’s a time later. The decease of a British woman, 28-year-old Simone White, was besides announced connected Thursday.

They are among six overseas tourists who person died from what is believed to beryllium a wide incidental of methanol poisoning successful Vang Vieng.

Two Danish women, aged 19 and 20, died past week, portion an American antheral besides died. They person not been identified.

It is unclear however galore others person fallen ill, but a transnational constabulary probe is present underway into the deaths.

Much of the scrutiny has fallen connected the hostel wherever immoderate of the victims were reportedly staying. The girls had taken escaped shots determination earlier heading retired for the night.

The hostel manager has denied culpability, saying the aforesaid drinks had been served to astatine slightest 100 different guests that nighttime who reported nary problems. The manager was taken successful by constabulary for questioning connected Thursday.

Mr Heath, who spoke to media connected behalf of Ms Bowles’s family, said they knew it was methanol that caused the girls to autumn ill. But “no 1 truly knows however and wherever it entered their system”.

To recognize what happened, the BBC spoke to backpackers and a diplomat astir the area.

Our reporting recovered the municipality wherever travellers fell sick remains a enactment hotspot contempt past efforts, with immoderate success, to cleanable up its image, and that portion the hazard of methanol poisoning is known among consulates and tourism operators, travellers look mostly ignorant.

• Parents 'devastated' implicit daughter's suspected poisoning death

Vang Vieng - a tiny municipality connected the Nam Song stream surrounded by limestone mountains and paddy fields - is known for its scenery.

It is besides known arsenic a enactment municipality - a estimation Laos officials person been trying to shed implicit the past decade.

A four-hour autobus thrust from the superior Vientiane, it has agelong been the stopping constituent connected the Banana Pancake Trail backpacking way betwixt Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam earlier heading northbound to the past temples of Luang Prabang.

In Vang Vieng, hostel bunks are advertised astatine little than €10 (£8) a night, portion a bucket of brew tin outgo fractional that. Drugs similar marijuana and mushrooms are successful acceptable supply, openly advertised astatine cafes and diners.

During the aboriginal 2000s and 2010s the municipality was celebrated for hardcore partying and stream tubing. But aft respective tourists were injured oregon died, efforts were made astatine raising information standards.

“To combat the stream tubing deaths they demolished a clump of the riverside bars that were selling buckets of vodka to radical floating by,” 1 Western diplomat successful the portion told the BBC.

Laos officials aimed to re-centre the municipality arsenic a spot for eco-tourism alternatively than conscionable a hub for the young and drunk.

“And it worked,” they say. “It’s really changed a rather a batch successful the past decade, they’ve cleaned it up, it’s mode much modern than it utilized to be."

But due to the fact that of that: “I deliberation it tin beryllium precise casual for young travellers to miss that this is inactive a precise mediocre state with lax regulations and information standards.”

The diplomat said methanol poisoning - wherever alcoholic drinks are contaminated with a toxic compound - is well-known among consulates and tourism operators.

Consulates are reasonably regularly having to woody with cases of tourists who person fallen sick from dodgy drinks, the diplomat noted.

South East Asia is documented arsenic the worst portion for methanol poisoning. Local producers making inexpensive intoxicant often volition not correctly trim the toxic level of methanol produced successful the process.

Thousands of deaths are recorded each twelvemonth successful the region, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

But for tourists, consciousness astir poisonous intoxicant is low.

British backpacker Sarisha told the BBC's Newsbeat programme she had ne'er considered the hazard of escaped drinks erstwhile she was precocious staying astatine Nana Backpacker.

Like astir different hostels, blessed hours were a regular staple astatine the venue arsenic good arsenic escaped shots of section vodkas arsenic courtesies, she said.

“It’s a precise enactment city,” she said.

Tourists inactive successful municipality are present taking other precautions aft the shocking deaths.

On Friday, Miika, 19, a Finnish backpacker staying astatine a hostel conscionable 10 minutes locomotion from Nana Backpacker, told the BBC helium and his friends had arrived successful municipality 2 days ago. They were present lone ordering bottled beers and rethinking stream tubing due to the fact that shots were included.

“Now due to the fact that we cognize astir this, we didn’t truly privation to spell there,” helium said.

British pistillate Natasha Moore, 22, told the BBC she cancelled her booking for Nana Backpacker aft proceeding astir the deaths.

“It’s conscionable truthful scary, I consciousness truthful overwhelmed… it feels similar I’ve escaped death, astir similar survivor's guilt", she said successful a TikTok video informing different travellers.

Her radical arrived successful the municipality 2 days aft the poisoning, wherever “it was inactive benignant of hush hush, cipher truly knew excessively overmuch astir what was going on".

She knew galore travellers decided to skip the municipality and said determination were signs successful the hostel informing to beryllium cautious astir drinks.

She said she "can't adjacent number however galore escaped drinks" she had connected her travels, but implicit 5 nights successful Vang Vieng, she and her friends had nary escaped drinks oregon spirits, lone bottled alcohol.

“I consciousness so, truthful bittersweet and upset for each the friends and household and the radical inactive successful hospital. It's conscionable truthful unfair, we were conscionable trying to person a bully time," she said.

“We've worked hard to prevention up to spell travel, similar it's specified a brave happening to do, and past thing similar that tin happen.”