The Father of a Teenager Who Died from Methanol Poisoning in Laos Pleads for a Full Investigation
The father of an Australian teenager who died from methanol poisoning while on a backpacking holiday in Laos has issued a plea to the Laos government to fully investigate his daughter’s death and ensure such incidents don’t happen again.
Bianca Jones, 19, was one of six foreign tourists who died in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng, a popular backpacker destination in northern Laos. The deaths of two Australian teenagers, a British woman, an American man, and two Danish women, and reports of others taken ill, prompted several Western nations to warn their citizens of the potentially fatal consequences of drinking tainted alcohol in the Southeast Asian country.
Laos, an opaque communist state that tightly controls its media, remained silent on the deaths for over a week before issuing its first statement, but details are still scant, including who else remains in hospital, which nationalities are affected, and how widespread the poisonings are.
Mark Jones, Bianca’s father, urged the Laos government “to investigate this to the fullest extent, to make sure this incident doesn’t happen again.” “We can’t have the passing of our daughter… not lead to change to protect others,” he said.
The deaths have raised concerns about the safety of tourists in Laos, particularly in Vang Vieng, which has a reputation for wild parties and cheap alcohol. Thousands of people suffer from methanol poisoning every year, with most cases reported in Asia from people drinking bootlegged liquor or homemade alcohol.
The Laos government has vowed to investigate the deaths and bring the perpetrators to justice, but the circumstances of the poisonings remain unclear. Authorities have not given any indication of where and how tainted alcohol might have been served.
The deaths have also raised questions about the role of tourism in Laos and the country’s economy. Tourism is a key source of revenue for the country’s struggling economy, and Vang Vieng is a major tourist destination. The town has undergone significant development in recent years, including the construction of a new railway connecting it to China.
The incident has sparked a renewed focus on the dangers of methanol poisoning and the need for greater awareness and regulation in the tourism industry. The families of the victims have set up a GoFundMe page to raise awareness of methanol poisoning and to support prevention efforts and launch awareness campaigns to educate travelers, communities, and businesses about the dangers of methanol poisoning.