Two women who died after ‘methanol poisoning’ from drinks on holiday named as death toll rises to six
The two Danish tourists killed in the suspected methanol poisoning in Laos have been identified.
Earlier this week, news broke of a suspected mass poisoning in the popular tourist town of Vang Vieng, with six foreign tourists confirmed to have been killed.
The casualties include 28-year-old British national Simone White, Australian friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, an unnamed American man and the two Danish women, who have now been identified.
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According to a report published by MailOnline, the two women killed are Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, both from Roskilde, Denmark.
It has also been reported that a further 11 foreign nationals are currently in hospital.
Friends Coyman and Sorensen are said to have been on a backpacking trip across Southeast Asia and had been staying at the Nana Backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng before taking ill. The manager and owner of the hostel have since been detained by local authorities as part of an ongoing investigation into the deaths.
Concern for welfare of the two women was raised by a Belgian man who'd previously agreed to meet up with them in Vang Vieng. A friend of the man's would later share a chilling warning to travellers in the area, revealing that Coyman and Sorensen had passed away after 'vomiting blood for 13 hours'.
"The past few days I have been busy with a Belgian friend looking for two girls he travelled with," the man wrote.
"For more than 72 hours, no contact could be made while they had agreed to meet in Vang Vieng.
"The strange thing was that their last message was that they had both been vomiting blood for 13 hours... They have both since died."
A local police report, shared by The Sydney Morning Herald, stated the two friends had visited various bars in the town on 12 November, before returning to their hostel at around midnight.
"Until November 13, they slept in the room and did not go out," a translation from the document read.
"At 6pm, the guest house staff went to check and saw [Coyman and Sorensen] lying unconscious on the bathroom floor, so they were brought to Vang Vieng Hospital. At that time, they were in a coma."
Meanwhile, an official statement from the Laos government offered their 'deepest condolences' to the families of the six victims and promised to bring the perpetrators 'to justice'.
"The Government of the Lao PDR is profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign tourists in Vangvieng District, Vientiane Province, and expresses its sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to the families of the deceased," the statement read.
"The Government of the Lao PDR has been conducting investigations to find causes of the incident and to bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with the law.
"The Government of the Lao PDR reaffirms that it always attaches importance and pays attention to the safety of both domestic and foreign tourists."
Topics: UK News, World News, Alcohol, Travel, Australia
Brenna Cooper