Officials in Laos have released the names of three tourists — including one American — who died of suspected methanol poisoning from drinking tainted alcohol.
James Louis Hutson, 57, of the US, and Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20 and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, both Danish, were staying at the Nana hostel in Van Vieng, approximately two hours north of the nation's capital Vientiane, when they became ill.
Three other tourists have also died from suspected methanol poisoning in the town last week, according to the BBC.
Van Vieng's governor, Bounchan Malavong, visited the hostel where the tourists were staying and assured the public that an investigation would be launched to find those responsible for the deaths.
Both of the Danish women were found unconscious in their room on November 13. The night prior they had visited a bar in the city, according to local media. The women were sent to a hospital for treatment but died overnight of sudden heart failure, according to medical staff.
Hutson died the same day the women were found unconscious. When he did not come out of his room, hotel staff entered and found him dead on his bed. Empty drink glasses were found in his room. He had no bruising or other signs of foul play, according to local media.
The hostel has since been closed pending the investigation as two of the other tourists who died — a pair of Australian women, Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19-years-old, and a British woman named Simone White— had taken free shots at there before they went out for the night.
The manager of the hostel has denied knowing anything about the poisonings, noting that the same night the tourists died that 100 other guests were served drinks and suffered no ill effects.
Methanol can be fatal if ingested, even in amounts as small as 25 milliliter, or less than 1 ounce. Nevertheless, the substance is sometimes added to alcoholic drinks because it is cheaper than typical consumer alcohol.
The father of Bianca Jones — one of the Australian women who died — has urged the government in Laos to "investigate this to the fullest extent, to make sure this incident doesn't happen again," Nine News reported.
"We can't have the passing of our daughter .... not lead to change to protect others," he said.
Vang Vieng is known to backpackers as a party town with incredible scenery. It has long served as the final stop for the Banana Pancake backpacking trail between Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, according to the BBC.
Hostel rooms are cheap in the city — less than $10 — and buckets of beer can be half that cost, according to the broadcaster.
Officials in Laos have worked to clean up the town's image to make it more family-friendly, but the location is still well-known for providing cheap services to international travelers.
Southeast Asia in particular is among the worst places in the world for methanol poisoning, according to Doctors Without Borders. The medical association reports that thousands of methanol poisoning incidents occur in the region every year.
