Posted on 06/02/2009 8:58:31 PM PDT by Steelfish
Two Britons die on Bali after drinking wine laced with methanol
The artist Rose Johnson, who died after drinking the arak wine on Bali Anne Barrowclough in Sydney, Sian Powell in Bangkok Two Britons have died in agony after drinking rice wine laced with methanol in a mass poisoning on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Alan Colen, 59, suffered a painful, drawn-out death on Saturday after buying an adulterated bottle of local wine, known as arak. Mr Colen, who had lived on the holiday island for 13 years, bought the wine from a roadside stall hear his home in Canggu, North Kuta.
Rose Johnson, 48, a successful painter who was based in Phoenix, Arizona, died early on Monday in the eastern Sanur tourist area of Bali after drinking from the same batch of poisoned arak. She was on holiday on the island.
The Britons are among 21 people who have died over the past week from alcohol poisoning.
Two other tourists, Rachel Craig, 22, from the Irish Republic, and Rene Puper, 23, her Dutch boyfriend, have also been named as victims. Nineteen Balinese remain seriously ill in hospital.
Mr Colen, a former sailor with the Indonesian Navy, was found unconscious on the floor of his home by his Balinese wife on Saturday afternoon. By the time that he arrived at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, Bali’s main town, he was suffering seizures and was declared dead soon after.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Homebrew.
I hope they find who did it!
Arak is a traditional Arab drink.
Stick to beer my friends.
nah... poisoning. it's actually like putting anti-freeze out for cats to drink up.
Probably somebody that would like to hurt the tourist trade, cripple the Bali economy, doesn't/isn't allowed to drink alcohol, and doesn't mind killing indiscriminately ...... now lets see.... hmmmm.... let me think.... Amish?
Ah the perils of drinking booze from some of the more “quaint” countries of the world. I did a little jaunt in Africa while I was in the USAF. I did drink the locally brewed beer (some European brand owned it). It was hit and miss. Sometimes I’d get a bottle of brew that was quite good, other times it would taste like paint thinner (it probably was). I pretty much stuck with beer. I didn’t trust the local rotgut,,,er,,,,liquor. I’m not suicidal.
Could be, lots of folks died. We had a front page story in our hometown paper about a local artist who died in Bali over the weekend.
Helps to read the story - this is the lady I mentioned...she has murals all over Bisbee, AZ.
The Tri Hita Karya factory is one of scores of small “home industries” producing arak that have sprung up in recent years.
On first glance, one might think this tragedy resulted from the lack of government oversight, but the truth is quite different.
It would almost do them in. The Balinese people are very friendly and some of the most "get-along-with-others" type people I have ever met. The two bombings they have suffered were done by outsiders and it would surprise me greatly if Balinese had done this themselves. I bet it was outsiders looking to kill foreigners (as were the two bombings). I'm of two minds of these. Of course, I am saddened for the deaths and for the way it will hurt the Balinese. However, I know that the next time I go there, I'll be able to bargain my way into some very great deals (OK, I am selfish).
I don’t recommend the poisoned arak. It leaves the palate with a harsh aftertaste. Like MD 20/20.
Is this what they mean by ‘fortified wine’?
Bali - terrorist attack - muzzies are prohibited from drinking alcohol.
Synonyms: Wood alcohol; methanol; carbinol
Inhalation: A slight irritant to the mucous membranes. Toxic effects exerted upon nervous system, particularly the optic nerve. Once absorbed into the body, it is very slowly eliminated.
Symptoms of overexposure may include headache, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, blindness, coma, and death. A person may get better but then worse again up to 30 hours later.
Ingestion: Toxic. Symptoms parallel inhalation. Can intoxicate and cause blindness. Usual fatal dose: 100-125 milliliters.
I believe I've heard of bootleggers adding wood alcohol to their moonshine and poisoning people. They thought that the wood alcohol would make their booze more potent.
I'm guessing that these Balinese were thinking the same thing.
Ugh. RIP.
Note: The following text is a quote:
https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=103017
YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report
Warden Message: Indonesia Reports Poisoned Drink Deaths
CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS
East Asia / Pacific - Indonesia
2 Jun 2009
U.S. Consulate Surabaya issued the following Warden Message on June 2:
The U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya would like to inform U.S. citizens that several Indonesians and a few foreigners, including an American Citizen, who were visiting the islands of Bali and/or Lombok have reportedly died in recent days due to methanol poisoning. Each of the deaths is reportedly associated with a locally brewed alcoholic beverage called “arak.” In these cases, the arak beverage had reportedly been spiked with methanol to increase its potency. The U.S. Consulate suggests that Americans exercise extreme caution and avoid consumption of “home-distilled traditional arak liquor.”
Americans living and traveling in Indonesia are urged to register and update their contact information with the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya, U.S. Consulate Medan, or U.S. Consular Agency in Bali. Registration facilitates the U.S. Mission’s contact with Americans in emergency situations, and may be done on line and in advance of travel. Information on registering can be found at the U.S. Department of State’s Consular Affairs website at http://travelregistration.state.gov, at the Embassy’s website at http://jakarta.usembassy.gov, or at the Consulate General’s website at http://jakarta.usembassy.gov/sby. All Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, Worldwide Cautions, and recent warden messages are posted on the Embassy website.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Alerts, Travel Warnings, and health-information resources can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada, or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
The Embassy is located at Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan No. 4-5, Jakarta; the 24-hour telephone number is 62-21-3435-9000. The telephone number of the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya is 62-31-295-6400; the number for the U.S. Consulate in Medan is 62-61-415-2200; and the number for the U.S. Consular Agency in Bali is 62-361-233-605.
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