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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Kat Wong and Ima Caldwell

Family devastated by ‘unacceptable’ charges over methanol deaths of Australian teenagers in Laos

Laos authorities are expected to lay charges after Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones died from methanol poisoning.
Laos authorities are expected to lay charges after Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones died from methanol poisoning. Photograph: Supplied by family

The Australian government says it wants “real charges with teeth” over the fatal methanol poisoning of two teenage travellers in Laos, as authorities prepare to lay lesser charges that have been called “bitterly” disappointing.

Melbourne travellers Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, both 19, were backpacking through the south-east Asian nation in late 2024 when they were fatally poisoned with methanol while drinking at Nana backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng.

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