A third person has died after drinking poisoned alcohol – as two Australians continue to fight for their lives in hospital.
The US State Department confirmed the death of a US citizen, aged 56, on Thursday morning, in the popular Laos party town of Vang Vieng.
It is understood two Danish women in their 20s have also died, with at least a dozen people falling ill after drinks were mixed with methanol and served to hostel guests.
Australian best friends Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, both aged 19 and from Melbourne, remain in a critical condition after consuming the beverages during a gap year trip across south-east Asia.
The two teens 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, before reportedly going to nearby Jaidee’s party bar.
Terrifying CCTV from inside the hostel shows one the girls being transported to a local clinic on the back of a motorbike being driven by a hotel staff worker after failing to check out of their rooms on time.
They were then rushed to separate hospitals in Udon Thani and Bangkok in neighbouring Thailand.
It comes as the Australian government has updated its travel advice to Laos.
Australian best friends Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones remain fighting for life after consuming the beverages
In a September video, the best friends were dancing happily together
‘Be alert to the potential risks particularly with spirit-based drinks including cocktails,’ the government’s smarttraveller.gov.au website warns.
It advises travellers to seek more information about the ‘risks around methanol poisoning as well as drink spiking’.
A man who helped the girls told the Herald Sun they had been drinking at Jaidee’s bar on the beachfront in Vang Vieng.
The infamous party bar, which offers free spirits, also has a hard copy ‘drug menu’, offering patrons opium, ecstasy and ketamine.
There is no suggestion the girls took any drugs whatsoever.
Their parents are now at their bedsides, with the family of Ms Jones revealing their hope that local police get to the bottom of the alleged mass poisoning swiftly.
‘Our family has been overwhelmed by the messages of love and support that have come from across Australia,’ they told the Herald Sun.
‘This is every parent’s nightmare and we want to ensure no other family is forced to endure the anguish we are going through.
A man who helped the girls told the Herald Sun they had been drinking at Jaidee’s bar on the beachfront in Vang Vieng (pictured)
The infamous party bar, which offers free spirits, also has a hard copy ‘drug menu’, offering patrons opium, ecstasy and ketamine (pictured)
‘We hope the authorities can get to the bottom of what happened as soon as possible.’
Ms Bowles’ father, Shaun Bowles, said his family was spending every minute possible by Holly’s side.
‘Right now our daughter remains in an intensive care unit, in critical condition, she’s on life support,’ he told reporters outside Bangkok Hospital on Wednesday.
‘We would just like to thank everyone from back home for all their support and love that we are receiving.
‘We would also like for people to appreciate right now, we just need privacy so we can spend as much time as we can with Holly.’
Just days before they fell ill, they had been happily documenting their trip in social media videos of themselves surveying jungle views, singing karaoke, riding jetskis and generally having a great time.
The girls, both from Melbourne , became increasingly unwell and didn’t emerge from their shared room at the Nana Backpackers Hostel (pictured) for over 24 hours
Bianca Jones (left) and Holly Bowles (right) both 19, had been on a trip of a lifetime in Laos in southeast Asia when they accepted free vodka shots at their hostel before a night out in the popular tourist town Vang Vieng last week
Nana Backpackers Hostel manager Duong Duc Toan, who served the girls Laotian vodka, has claimed it wasn’t his Tiger Vodka that made the girls sick.
Toan said he bought the alcohol from a certified distributor and insisted it had not been tainted by himself or his staff.
He said the shots, a gesture of hospitality, were served to around 100 guests and that the hostel had not received any other complaints.
To prove his point, the bartender drank from one of the vodka bottles that were in use on the night to prove it was safe.
Toan said Holly and Bianca were at the bar playing cards from 8pm to 10.30pm and had three drinks each in that time.
He poured them a Lao Pdr Tiger Vodka containing 40 per cent alcohol and mixed it with ice and Coke Zero.
‘Right now the police [are telling] every hostel and hotel and bar to stop selling drinks in Vang Vieng,’ he told the Associated Press.
Laos police have launched an investigation.
Last year, the pair graduated from Mentone Girls’ Grammar and Beaumaris Secondary College.
Both were heavily involved in the Beaumaris Football Club.
Club president Nick Heath said both girls loved he sport and that their teammates were ‘struggling’ to come to grips with what had happened to them.
‘The Beaumaris Football Club extends its love, best wishes and unconditional support to Holly and Bianca in their hour of need,’ Mr Heath said in a statement.
‘Our heartfelt thoughts are also with their parents Samantha and Shaun Bowles, Michelle and Mark Jones, as well as their extended families and friends.
‘The situation that occurred whilst both girls were travelling in Southeast Asia is tragic and distressing.
‘Now more than ever, the wider Sharks Community needs to lean on each other for both comfort and support.’
