For the past few weeks, Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, had been on the trip of a lifetime backpacking through Southeast Asia.
Photos posted online show the two young Danish women sightseeing in Cambodia and touring Vietnam on a motorcycle while making new friends and partying late into the night.
But their dream months-long vacation – a rite of passage for many recent school graduates – was tragically cut short last week when the two women died after drinking alcoholic beverages laced with methanol in Vang Vieng, Laos.
Since then, the mass poisoning in the popular tourist town has claimed a total of six lives, including Australians Bianca Jones, 19, and Holly Bowles, 19, Britain’s Simone White, 28, and the American James Louis Hutson, 57 years old.
Another 11 foreign nationals remain in hospital fighting for their lives.
Horrifying details have since emerged about the Danish girls’ final moments after it was revealed the pair vomited blood for hours after consuming the drinks.
The haunting final moments were a world away from the picturesque travel photo they shared days earlier after the couple happily posed with friends while in Vietnam.
The Danish girls, originally from Roskilde, a city of about 53,000 inhabitants 35 kilometers west of Copenhagen, were avid travelers.
Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, died Nov. 14 while backpacking in Southeast Asia.
She had been on the trip of a lifetime with her friend Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21 (pictured on holiday), when the pair were fatally poisoned by methanol.
Last year, they spent time exploring Hungary, France and Italy, before saving up for a big trip to Southeast Asia this year.
In September, the couple spent time traveling around Thailand, feeding elephants in Chiang Mai and visiting Ayutthaya Historical Park.
They then ventured to Cambodia, where they explored the Hindu-Buddhist temple complex Angkor Wat and Kompong Phluk, a floating village, before cycling around Silk Island.
In October, they traveled to Vietnam, where they climbed Lang Biang Mountain, floated in a canoe through the canals of Hoi An, and rode a motorcycle along the winding roads through mountainous Ha Giang.
Earlier this month, they headed to Laos, where they booked Nanas backpacker accommodation in Vang Vieng, the same hostel where many of the sick tourists, including the two Australians, had stayed.
Shortly after the poisoning, a man who shared a mutual friend with Sorenson and Coyman posted a warning online, urging other travelers to be careful with their drinks.
“The last few days I was busy with a Belgian friend looking for two girls he traveled with,” the man wrote.
‘For more than 72 hours, no contact could be established while they had agreed to meet in Vang Vieng.
“The strange thing was that their last message was that they had both been vomiting blood for 13 hours… They both died since then.”
The women are photographed in Vietnam a few weeks ago, with friends they made while traveling through Southeast Asia. Ms. Sorensen is on the far left, while Ms. Coyman is second from the right.
Photos posted online in recent weeks show the girls having the time of their lives as they explored Vietnam (pictured), Cambodia, Thailand and Laos.
According to local police reports obtained by the Sydney Morning HeraldSorenson and Coyman drank at the shelter before going to local bars the night of November 12.
They returned around midnight, but spent the entire next day in their room, before they were discovered around 6pm unconscious on the bathroom floor.
They were taken to Vang Vieng Hospital in a coma before being transferred to a hospital in the capital of Vientiane. They were reportedly pronounced dead around 3.30am on the 14th.
Like the young Danish women, Ms Jones and Ms Bowles, both from Melbourne, were on holiday gap year when they fell ill while staying at Nana Backpackers on November 12.
Staff became concerned after they were unable to leave on November 13 and agreed to take the couple to hospital after they “calmly” asked for help.
Closed-circuit cameras from inside the shelter show one of the women being transported to a local clinic on the back of a motorcycle driven by a hotel worker.
The two women were reportedly staying at Nana Backpacker Hostel when workers found them unwell in their rooms after they were late for check-out. In the photo the hostel.
Hostel manager and bartender Duong Duc Toan (pictured) claimed it was not his Tiger Vodka that made tourists sick.
Both women were taken to hospitals in Thailand. Jones died on Thursday and Bowles the next day.
Ms White, a lawyer who had worked with global law firm Squire Patton Bogg, White was from Orpington, south-east London, was among a group of up to six British citizens who fell ill last week after a party at Vang Vieng.
His death was confirmed on Thursday shortly after that of Ms Jones.
Meanwhile, Hutson, who arrived in Vang Vieng on October 20, was found unconscious in his hotel room on November 13, lying next to four empty bottles of vodka and two empty bottles of beer.
He was taken to a local hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Lao authorities detained the hostel’s director and owner, Duong Duc Toan, for questioning on Friday, but no charges have been filed.
Nana Backpackers offers free drinks to guests for a two-hour period each night; However, Toan told the media that his alcohol was not responsible.
He said more than 100 guests received free shots of Laotian vodka on the night of the poisoning, but that only a portion of the guests had fallen ill.
The shelter has since closed amid the police investigation.
Melbourne teenager Bianca Jones (pictured) died in hospital on Thursday
Australian teenager Holly Bowles has died after suffering from suspected methanol poisoning while on holiday in Laos with her best friend.
Simone White, 28, from the UK, is one of six tourists who died after falling ill last week.
Meanwhile, online tributes have begun to pour in for the victims of the mass poisoning.
A school friend of Sorensen and Coyman said the couple was “freaking young.”
Jones’ family said she was surrounded by love in her final moments.
“We take comfort in knowing that his incredible spirit touched so many lives during his time with us,” they said.
‘We want to express our deepest gratitude for the overwhelming support, love and prayers we have received from all over Australia.
“The kindness shown to our family during this unimaginable time has been truly humbling.”
Confirming their daughter’s death on Friday, the Bowles family said they “find solace and solace in knowing that Holly brought so much joy and happiness to so many people.”
“Holly was living her best life traveling around Southeast Asia, making new friends and enjoying incredible experiences,” they said in a statement.
‘As her parents, we were always incredibly proud of everything Holly did. Holly was an amazing big sister to James and always looked out for him.