{"id":18982,"date":"2024-11-26T11:38:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T11:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18982"},"modified":"2024-11-26T11:38:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T11:38:31","slug":"laos-hostel-staff-detained-after-suspected-methanol-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18982","title":{"rendered":"Laos hostel staff detained after suspected methanol deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Police in Laos have detained the manager and seven other members of staff at a backpacker hostel following the deaths of six tourists from suspected methanol poisoning.<\/p>\n

The tourists – <\/b>two Australians, two Danes, an American and a British national – died earlier this month after apparently drinking tainted alcohol in the town of Vang Vieng. Several were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel. <\/p>\n

It is unclear how many other people were taken ill. <\/p>\n

The deaths have cast a spotlight on the popular backpacking town and spooked tourists, especially women, as five of the six who died were female travellers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Several governments, including New Zealand, Australia, and the UK, have warned their citizens about drinking spirits in Laos.<\/p>\n

Last week, 19-year-old Australians Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles died days after being admitted to hospital in neighbouring Thailand. Theirs were the first deaths suspected to be caused by methanol, a toxic, flavourless and colourless substance commonly added to bootleg alcohol.<\/p>\n

Then Danish authorites reported the deaths of two women, aged 19 and 20, who had died in Vang Vieng earlier this month. A 57-year-old American man was also found dead in Vang Vieng. <\/p>\n

And last week, a 28-year-old London lawyer, Simone White, died after she was believed to have ingesed methanol. <\/p>\n

The owners of the Nana Backpackers hostel, which is now closed, had denied serving illicit alcohol. <\/p>\n

Some travellers in Vang Vieng are steering clear of the once-popular free shots and alcohol buckets offered to tourists, telling the BBC<\/a> that they felt concerned about their safety.<\/p>\n

Methanol poisoning is the most prevalent in Asia<\/a>, mostly affecting poorer communities and places with weak food regulations and enforcement.<\/p>\n

A New Zealander who had fallen ill from suspected methanol poisoning in the country has now returned home, authorities have confirmed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Police in Laos have detained the manager and seven other members of staff at a backpacker hostel following the deaths of six tourists from suspected methanol poisoning. The tourists – two Australians, two Danes, an American and a British national – died earlier this month after apparently drinking tainted alcohol in the town of Vang […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}