Posted on 11/22/2024 2:05:55 PM PST by RandFan
A second Australian teenager has died after drinking suspected tainted alcohol in Laos.
Several people, including the manager and owner of a hostel, have been detained by police after at least six tourists died in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in the popular backpacker town of Vang Vieng.
Holly Bowles, 19, was travelling around South-East Asia with her friend, Bianca Jones, 19, who has also died.
Both had been on life support in a hospital in neighbouring Thailand after being evacuated from Laos.
The two women fell ill after reportedly consuming a drink containing methanol - a highly toxic substance.
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Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
All young, pretty white western women. The stupidest and dumbest part of the human species.
They say it was 25 cents for a shot of Vodka or even free from this guys hostel/
Seems so crazy
Probably home brew by someone who doesn’t know how to work a still.
Or not, since methanol is made from destructive distillation in an anoxic atmosphere. Snuffy Smif's still need not apply.
The methanol is generated from the methoxy groups on pectin molecules.
A friend who’s distilled palinka (Hungarian fruit brandy) told me the distillation process but all I remember is you have to boil off the methanol first.
Who the heck goes to Laos for vacation? I mean, Laos?
It’s very popular they said on the news with backpackers on the start of their Asian tour.
Landlocked and poor. Yeah not exactly a top destination for North Americans but I guess Australians and New Zealanders do go since it along with other places in southeast Asia are not too far away. It’s probably quite affordable and for the backpacking crowd that’s a major plus. This incident turned that into a major minus.
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