The family of one of two teenagers fighting for life in hospital after a suspected methanol poisoning incident in Laos hope authorities work out exactly what happened “as soon as possible”.
Melbourne friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both aged 19, had been staying at a hostel in Vang Vieng, north of the Laos capital Vientiane, when they fell critically ill last week.
They have since been hospitalised in Thailand, where their families have flown to be at their bedsides.
On Wednesday, Jones’s parents told the Herald Sun that the messages of love and support they have received have been overwhelming.
“This is every parent’s nightmare and we want to ensure no other family is forced to endure the anguish we are going through,” they told the publication.
“We hope the authorities can get to the bottom of what happened as soon as possible.”
Jones’s mother is employed by News Corp’s Herald and Weekly Times. Penny Fowler, chair of the HWT, told staff on Tuesday that the teenagers had fallen victim “to an apparent case of methanol poisoning”.
The location of the suspected poisoning has not been identified.
The pair had been travelling through Asia on a “dream getaway” at the time of the incident, the Jones family has previously said.
They had played Australian rules football together at the Beaumaris football club, which on Wednesday extended its “love, best wishes and unconditional support to Holly and Bianca in their hour of need”.
“The situation that occurred whilst both girls were travelling in South-East Asia is tragic and distressing,” the club said in a social media post.
It said the pair’s involvement in its football programs have seen them “become cherished and highly respected members of the Beaumaris Sharks family”.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said consular assistance was being provided to two Australians and their families in Thailand.
At the time of the incident, the women were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel. It’s manager, Duong Duc Toan, said the women had joined more than 100 other guests for free shots of Lao vodka offered by the hostel as a gesture of hospitality, the Associated Press has reported.
He said hostel staff were told by other guests that the women were unwell after they failed to check out as planned on 13 November, and they arranged transport to a hospital for them.
He said no other guest reported any issue, adding the women had then gone for a night out, returning in the early hours of the morning.
Toan hoped the investigation would clear the hostel’s name but for now the venue had stopped giving free shots to guests.
It can be difficult to differentiate between alcohol that’s safe to drink and methanol, because the latter is a colourless alcohol used for industrial purposes, according to Médecins Sans Frontières.
Australia’s Smartraveller website urges tourists to be on the look out for methanol poisoning, saying as little as one shot can be fatal.
It warns symptoms appear similar to drinking too much but can be “stronger”, leading to vision problems including blindness or death.
