Anish Vij
The mum of British lawyer Simone White has opened up on the heartbreaking 16-hour journey to see her daughter who died from suspected methanol poisoning in Laos.
Simone, 28, who worked as a solicitor in Kent, is one of the six people who have died from suspected methanol poisoning a week ago.
She checked in to Nana Backpackers Hostel in town of Vang Vieng with two friends on 11 November.
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The evening she was allegedly poisoned, the group were served six shots of vodka by the hostel, which were mixed with Sprite purchased from the local supermarket.
Just nine days after, Sue White, her mother, was forced to turn off her ventilator at a private hospital.
Her friends who were unwell are also devastated by the incident.
"I knew when I had that phone call — I don’t know what it was, call it a mother’s intuition — but I knew that she was going to die," the travel agent, 61, from Orpington told The Sunday Times.
"The flight from the UK was horrendous.
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"Before I left, I got a call from the hospital to say she needed urgent brain surgery and I had to give my consent.
"I had to go through the whole flight thinking she was going through brain surgery. It was a terrible, terrible journey.
"It was a Thai Airways flight and the whole crew were from Thailand, so there was nobody to speak to."
When Sue got to the hospital, she said 'it was horrendous. Absolutely horrendous'.
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"She had such beautiful long blonde hair, which had all been shaved off for the operation. It was the worst experience of my life. There are no words, really," the mum said.
Laos police have since detained eight hostel employees for questioning over the incident.
While the hostel remains closed, its owners have denied serving illicit alcohol.
"I hope that the police investigation brings those responsible to justice, both for Simone and all the other victims. We hope this raises awareness to all future travellers about the dangers of consuming local alcohol," Simone's dad Neil, 58, said.
Five others are currently known to have died, including two Australian teenagers, an American and two Danish tourists.
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They are believed to have been served drinks 'tainted with methanol', which is sometimes used as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, but can cause severe poisoning or death.