Police detain owner of Laos hostel after tourists became ill and died following suspected methanol poisoning

Officer at Vang Vieng’s tourism police says manager and owner of Nana backpacker hostel taken for questioning, but no charges laid

Lao police have detained the manager and owner of a hostel where two teenage Australian tourists stayed who were poisoned by tainted alcohol, one fatally, in a case that appears to have claimed the lives of at least five people.

An officer at Vang Vieng’s tourism police office, who refused to give his name, told the Associated Press on Friday that a “number of people” had been detained in the case but that no charges had been filed. Staff at the Nana backpacker hostel, which was still operating but not accepting new guests, confirmed that the manager and owner were among those taken in for questioning.

Tourist police offices are common in south-east Asia and are set up specifically to help with incidents involving tourists and other foreigners.

The US state department on Friday issued a health alert for citizens travelling in Laos, warning of “suspected methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng, possibly through the consumption of methanol-laced alcoholic drinks,” after similar alerts from other countries whose citizens were involved.

Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced Thursday that a 19-year-old citizen had died in a Thai hospital where she had been evacuated for emergency treatment, and that her friend remained in a hospital “fighting for her life.” A 28-year-old British woman also died from suspected methanol poisoning in Laos, the British Foreign Office said.

An American and two Danish tourists also died, though specifics about the causes of death have not been released.

Laos is a one-party communist state with no organised opposition and the government keeps a tight lid on information. In this case, officials have released almost no details.

The Lao foreign ministry has refused to comment, and in Vang Vieng the small hospital where some of the victims are believed to have been treated initially referred all questions to the town’s health office on the hospital grounds. The town health officials refused to comment, saying they lacked proper permission.