Parents issue warning to ‘take country off bucket list’ after their daughters died on holiday
The parents of two teenage travellers who died after drinking methanol-laced booze have urged other young tourists to be wary about where they visit.
Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones, both 19, passed away just one day apart in November last year while holidaying in Laos.
The best pals, from Australia, were staying at the Nana Backpackers hostel in the tourist town of Vang Vieng in the Southeast Asian country when tragedy struck after they consumed what they thought was alcohol.
Fatefully, they had unknowingly consumed beverages reportedly laced with methanol, which is toxic 'even in small amounts', according to the UK government's Travel Aware advice.
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It explains that this industrial chemical is typically found in products, like antifreeze, fuel and paint thinners, although it is sometimes illegally mixed with alcohol in some parts of the world.
Experts say it can be difficult to realise that you have drunk a methanol-laced drink, given that it can initially provide the same effect that booze does. However, you should promptly seek medical attention if you experience symptoms such as vomiting, poor judgment, loss of balance and drowsiness soon after consuming a potentially dodgy drink.
Abdominal pain, vertigo, hyperventilation, breathlessness, blurred vision, blindness, coma and convulsions can also ensue between 12 and 48 hours after.
Holly and Bianca were left on life support after consuming the colourless, odourless chemical, and both sadly did not recover.
Four other tourists - British lawyer Simone White, Danish residents Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman and Freja Sorensen, as well as American James Hutson - also passed away in the space of a few days after drinking at the same hostel as the teens.
The devastated families of the 19-year-old friends have now urged other holidaymakers keen to explore the globe to remove Laos from their intended list of countries.
Holly's mum and dad, Shaun Bowles and Samantha Morton, have hit out at the 'corrupt and unhelpful' Laotian government and slammed its handling of the deaths, as they told the Herald Sun: "There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest there is any type of investigation going on.
"[Our] hope is that Australians remove this country from their bucket list, your life is worth nothing over there and we have seen this first-hand as well as other families that have been involved in this tragedy."
Bianca's parents, Mark and Michelle Jones, also claimed that 'to date, no individual or organisation has been held accountable' for what happened to their daughter.
"[It] appears these deaths of innocent young women may be forgotten, brushed aside and left unresolved," they said.
Jacinta Allan, the Premier of Victoria, said that the families' frustrations were 'very real' as there has been a lack of 'change happening at the end of the Laotian investigation'.
Police in Laos previously detained several people after the six deaths stunned the world last year.
And last month, the UK government was urged to introduce 'clear guidance' on methanol poisoning in its official travel advice in response to the tragedies.
Shadow education secretary Laura Trott argued that methanol poisoning is 'a huge danger but barely any of us know about it'.
Introducing a 10-minute rule Bill in the Commons, the Sevenoaks MP said: "Methanol is tasteless and has only a faint smell, making it impossible to tell if a drink has been contaminated.
"But when consumed, it can lead to a coma, convulsions, blindness, nervous system damage and death.
“Medical specialists say drinking as little as 25ml of methanol can be fatal, but it’s sometimes added to drinks because it is cheaper than alcohol.
"Sadly, current official travel advice is falling short. In some high-risk countries, there is very little warning at all.
"Where advice does exist, it is vague and understated. Travellers are told that certain drinks ‘might’ carry a risk or that they should exercise ‘caution’.
"This is not a matter of caution. This is about a lethal and preventable danger."
Trott acknowledged that the Foreign Office has updated the health section of the travel advice on its website, but said 'we must do more to make the warnings clearer and more explicit'.
LADbible Group has contacted the Laos-Australian Embassies for comment.
Topics: Travel, World News, Alcohol, Parenting
Olivia Burke