VIENTIANE: An Australian teenager died on Thursday (Nov 21) after consuming alcohol contaminated with methanol in Laos, Thai police and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese mentioned, the fourth international nationwide now suspected to have died within the crash.
Bianca Jones, 19, fell unwell final week in Vang Vieng, a Southeast Asian metropolis well-liked with international backpackers that’s about two hours’ drive north of the capital Vientiane.
She died on Thursday after being taken to a hospital in neighboring Thailand on November 13, police within the metropolis of Udon Thani mentioned.
“The physician who examined her mentioned the reason for loss of life was methanol poisoning, ensuing from counterfeit liquor,” Phattanawong Chanphon, a police official within the Thai metropolis, informed Reuters.
“The quantity of methanol in his physique was excessive, inflicting swelling of the mind.”
Australian media mentioned Jones was the fourth international vacationer to die after consuming the contaminated alcohol, after two Danes and an American.
“This is each father or mother’s worst worry and a nightmare that nobody ought to must endure,” Albanese informed Parliament on Thursday. “All Australians supply them our deepest sympathy on this time of heartbreak.”
Jones’ pal, Holly Bowles, additionally 19, is in important situation within the hospital, Albanese mentioned.
Australian media community ABC News reported that Bowles is on life help in hospital in Bangkok.
