A VODKA and whisky factory believed to be the source of a deadly batch of drinks that killed six backpackers has been closed by Laos police.
Simone White, a 28-year-old lawyer from London, was one of the victims fatally poisoned by methanol whilst partying in the traveller hotspot Vang Vieng last month.
The victims had all been staying at Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos[/caption]
Police have arrested the owner of the factory that pumped out cheap local liquors known as Tiger Vodka and Tiger Whisky and banned the sale of the drinks, according to ABC.
The run-down site outside the capital city Vientiane has been shutdown by authorities until it sorts out its production process.
At the now-abandoned factory blue drapes have been placed over stacks of empty bottles and Tiger Whisky packaging lay beside an extinguished fire outside.
The six poisoning victims were all staying at Nana Backpackers Hostel, where eight staff have also been arrested after reportedly refusing to call an ambulance for the dying guests.
The detained workers are believed to be Vietnamese nationals, but no charges have yet been brought against them.
The manager and bartender at the hostel, Duong Duc Toan, was investigated last week by local police and detained.
The foreign travellers fell ill just hours after drinking free shots of Tiger Vodka given out by the hostel’s bar, but it is not clear if this was the source of the methanol contamination.
Toan previously denied any drinks served at the hostel could have made guests ill.
Among the victims were Danish friends Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald, 21, who died after they were left “vomiting blood” for 13 hours.
A witness told the Sydney Morning Herald that a female worker massaged the toes of one of the women while she was having a seizure, insisting it was just a panic attack.
Also killed were best friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, from Melbourne.
The pair became ill and failed to check out of their rooms on November 13 after a night drinking at Nana’s hostel and the nearby Jaidee Bar.
Why is methanol so deadly?
By Sam Blanchard, Health Correspondent
METHANOL is a super-toxic version of alcohol that may be present in drinks if added by crooks to make them stronger or if they are brewed or distilled badly.
The consequences can be devastating because as little as a single shot of contaminated booze could be deadly, with just 4ml of methanol potentially enough to cause blindness.
Prof Oliver Jones, a chemist at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, said: “The body converts methanol to formic acid.
“Formic acid blocks the action of an enzyme that is critical to how the body uses oxygen to generate energy.
“If it stops working, cells cannot take up or use oxygen from the blood and lack of oxygen causes problems in a range of organs as the cells start to die.
“Symptoms of methanol poisoning include vomiting, seizures and dizziness.
“The optic nerve seems to be particularly vulnerable to methanol toxicity, so there is the potential for temporary or permanent blindness, and even death.
“While thankfully rare, methanol poisoning is very serious, and treatment should be given at a hospital.”
An unexpected but key way of treating methanol poisoning is to get the patient drunk with normal alcohol – known as ethanol – to distract the liver and stop it processing the methanol.
The friends were rushed to separate hospitals in Bangkok, Thailand, and their families travelled to be with them.
Jones’s father said that more needed to be done to bring justice upon the people responsible for producing the contaminated alcohol.
He said: “I was happy to hear that there’s been some movement over in Laos, I will continue to urge our government to pursue whoever was responsible.”
“We cannot have our girls passing and this continuing to happen.”
The teenagers’ bodies were flown home to Australia on November 26.
Since the deaths, it has emerged that past guests tried to warn fellow travellers against staying at Nana’s hostel after themselves being poisoned, but that these were deleted from Google.
In a now-deleted review, one wrote: “Do not go here!! They have methanol in their drinks and me and 3 others have been hospitalised because of this.”
Another damning review read: “Myself and friends were sick from consuming the free vodka here.”
“People we know were taken to hospital, some even in intensive care with serious problems.”
“The ones in hospital have all had traces of methanol in their bloodstream which is incredibly dangerous.”
Nana Backpackers Hostel hit back against the warnings and claimed they were “slander”.
A representative for the hostel replied to the reviews with: “Our hostel has been operating for five years, and during this time, we have always prioritised the safety and well-being of our guests.
“We take any claims like this very seriously.”
The Laotian government has vowed to “bring the perpetrators to justice”.
They added: “The government of the Lao PDR reaffirms that it always attaches the importance and pays attention to the safety of both domestic and foreign tourists.”
