Laos methanol poisoning: Breakthroughs made as source of deadly drink revealed and factory owner arrested after six backpackers killed

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Bombshell breakthroughs have been made after six backpackers died of suspected methanol poisoning - including two Australians and one British woman.

Police have arrested the owner of the factory identified as the suspected source of the Laos methanol poisoning. The manufacturing plant is located outside the capital city Vientiane and is understood to have been making the local Tiger Vodka and Tiger Whiskey.

The rundown factory has been shut down by authorities and the sale and consumption of Tiger Vodka and Tiger Whisky has been banned in the country since the deadly outbreak. The Ministry of Health's Department of Food and Drugs in Laos said the drinks will remain banned and the factory shut “until the manufacturer improves the factory production process to ensure safety and quality according to standards”, the ABC reported.

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For now the factory remains abandoned. Twelve people have been arrested by authorities so far for their connection to the poisonous alcohol.

Bombshell breakthroughs have been made after six backpackers died of suspected methanol poisoning - including two Australians and one British woman. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)Bombshell breakthroughs have been made after six backpackers died of suspected methanol poisoning - including two Australians and one British woman. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)
Bombshell breakthroughs have been made after six backpackers died of suspected methanol poisoning - including two Australians and one British woman. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

Two Indian men, aged 24 and 30, and a 35-year-old Filipino woman who was working at the hostel Ms Jones and Ms Bowles had been staying at were arrested last week. No charges have yet been laid in relation to these arrests.

Melbourne teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both aged 19, were among six foreign tourists who died after falling ill while holidaying in Vang Vieng, a popular tourist town 129km north of Vientiane. British lawyer Simone White, 28, two Danish women Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Frela Vennervald Sorensen, 21, US man James Louis Hutson, 57, also died from after drinking contaminated drinks.

SmartTraveller updated its latest travel advice for Laos on November 19 warning Australians to avoid the drinks because of “serious safety concerns”. It read: “Lao authorities have issued an order prohibiting the sale and consumption of Tiger Vodka and Tiger Whisky due to their concerns about these products being a health risk”.

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