Deaths of at Least 4 Tourists in Laos Raise Alarm About Tainted Drinks

At least four people traveling in Laos, including an American, have died in recent days as officials in Australia and New Zealand said there had likely been an outbreak of methanol poisoning there caused by tainted alcoholic drinks.

Penny Wong, Australia’s foreign minister, said on Thursday that Bianca Jones, an Australian, had died in Thailand, where she had been brought after becoming sick in Laos.

Ms. Jones, 19, had been hospitalized last week after consuming an alcoholic drink in Laos, said Col. Phattanawong Chanphon, the superintendent of the police station in Muang Udon Thani, the town in Thailand where she died. He said the cause was swelling in the brain caused by methanol.

It was unclear whether three other deaths of foreign travelers reported this week in Laos, a landlocked nation in Southeast Asia that is popular with backpackers, had been caused by methanol.

The State Department said in an emailed statement on Thursday that an American had died in Vang Vieng, a tourist town in Laos. It did not offer details.

The Associated Press reported that two Australian women in the same town had been sickened after taking shots of Lao vodka offered to them by a hostel where they were staying, citing a manager of the hostel.

Methanol, a toxic chemical used in household and industrial products like antifreeze, is sometimes added to drinks as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, the alcohol used in alcoholic beverages.

Australia’s Foreign Ministry said in an advisory this week that it suspected several Australians had gotten methanol poisoning from consuming alcoholic drinks in Laos this month. It warned travelers to be wary of risks with spirit-based drinks, including cocktails.

New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that its embassy in Bangkok, which oversees Laos, had been contacted by a citizen who was ill and had likely suffered methanol poisoning in Laos.

Denmark’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that two Danish citizens had died in Laos. The ministry did not specify whether the deaths were linked to methanol poisoning.

Another Australian, Holly Bowles, a friend of Ms. Jones who the Thai authorities said had been drinking with her, remained hospitalized in Thailand with a critical illness, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia said on Thursday.

Ryn Jirenuwat contributed reporting.