One of the six British tourists being treated for methanol poisoning in Laos has died, according to UK officials.
Four people had already died following the poisonings – an Australian named Bianca Jones, 19, from Melbourne, as well as two Danish women in their 20s and a 56-year-old US citizen.
British tourist Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, had fallen ill after reportedly drinking “free shots” from a local bar in Vang Vieng – a resort popular with backpackers.
“We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Laos, and we are in contact with the local authorities,” the foreign office said.
A friend of Ms White, Bethany Clarke, a healthcare worker also from Orpington, posted on a Laos Backpacking Facebook group to warn other travellers after the group fell ill.
“Urgent – please avoid all local spirits. Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free shots offered by one of the bars,” she wrote.
“Just avoid them as so not worth it. Six of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning.”
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According to The Times, White was an associate lawyer specialising in intellectual property and technology and worked at the London office of the American law firm Squire Patton Boggs.
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