American tourist among those killed in mass alcohol poisoning in Laos

An Australian teenager and a British woman have died after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos in what Australia’s prime minister on Thursday said was every parent’s nightmare. An American and two Danish tourists also died, officials said, following reports that several people had been sickened in a Laotian town popular with backpackers. Dr. Knut Erik Hovda, Professor & Senior Consultant of Oslo University Hospital, joined LiveNOW from FOX to discuss.
An American man was among at least six tourists who were killed in a mass alcohol poisoning case in Loas.
In a short statement released to the media, the Lao government said it was “profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign tourists” in the town of Vang Vieng and offered its condolences to the families of the victims.
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Few details have been released about the number of tourists affected and the possible source of the methanol-laced drinks. Laos is a one-party communist state with no organized opposition and the government keeps a tight lid on information.
The view of Vang Vieng, Laos, in December 2018. Since the end of the 90s, Vang Vieng has been opened as a tourist site for western backpackers. The town quickly evolved from an agricultural community into the party capital ( (Photo by Oleksandr Rupet
Landlocked Laos is one of Southeast Asia’s poorest nations and a popular tourist destination. Vang Vieng is particularly popular among western backpackers seeking partying and adventure sports.
The police said arrests have been made but refused to provide further information.
Methanol is sometimes added to mixed drinks at disreputable bars as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, but can cause severe poisoning or death. It is also a byproduct of poorly distilled homebrew liquor, and could have found its way into bar drinks inadvertently.
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Dr. Knut Erik Hovda, a doctor at Oslo University Hospital, told LiveNow from FOX that methanol transforms into a very toxic substance in the body – formic acid – which “has the same effects as cyanide.”
People who inadvertently drink methanol describe an intense hangover the next day before they get even sicker. Most methanol poisoning cases happen in Asia, Hovda said.
Two Australian teenagers and a British woman died from suspected methanol poisoning. An American man and two Danes also died, though their exact causes of death have not been released. A New Zealander also has been sickened.
The U.S. State Department on Friday issued a health alert for citizens traveling in Laos, warning of “suspected methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng, possibly through the consumption of methanol-laced alcoholic drinks,” following similar alerts from other countries whose citizens were involved.
This report includes information from The Associated Press.