Police have reportedly arrested the owner of the hostel at the center of the alleged methanol poisoning in Laos, which has left five people dead.
British lawyer Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, died yesterday after falling ill along with more than a dozen others in the popular backpacker town of Vang Vieng.
He became the fifth person to die after drinking free drinks believed to have been laced with methanol. At least 11 other people remain in hospital.
Australian Bianca Jones, two Danes in their 20s and a US citizen had already died from methanol poisoning.
Ms White, Ms Jones and their friend Holly Bowles were staying at the Nana Backpacjers Hostel, where they were given free shots of liquor.
Now the owner of the hostel has been arrested by local police, ABC News reports.
But staff previously vehemently denied that injections administered at their bar were responsible for the mass poisoning.
Ms White was a London-based associate lawyer specializing in intellectual property and technology at US law firm Squire Patton Boggs.
Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, is the fifth tourist to die after falling ill last week.
Bianca Jones, 19, from Melbourne, sadly died after consuming suspected “methanol” drinks in Vang Vieng, Laos.
Australian Holly Bowles (pictured) was on holiday with her school friend in the popular backpacking destination of Vang Vieng.
After completing his A levels at St Olave’s Primary School in Orpington, he studied law at Newcastle University before taking the crash course at BPP Law School.
White’s friend Bethany Clarke, a healthcare worker also from Orpington, took to the Laos Backpacking Facebook group to warn other travellers.
She said: “Urgent: avoid all local spirits.” Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free drinks offered to us by one of the bars. Just avoid them because they are not worth it. Six of us who drank at the same place are currently in hospital for methanol poisoning.’
Hostel manager and bartender Duong Duc Toan, who served drinks to Ms Jones, who remains in hospital in a critical condition, and Ms Bowles, denied it was his Tiger Vodka that made the girls sick.
He claims he only buys alcohol from legitimate sellers and even drank from a bottle he himself had to “prove it was safe.”
Toan said the free drinks were offered to about 100 guests and said there had been no other complaints.
The best friends were on a gap year trip for a “dream getaway” in Southeast Asia when authorities suspect they drank poisoned drinks believed to contain contaminated “vodka” shots.
This is breaking news and is being updated.