Laos methanol poisoning: Eight hostel staff arrested over deaths of tourists after 'refusing to call ambulance'

Eight employees at the Nana Backpacker hostel in Vang Vieng were taken into custody on Monday (25 November) after workers reportedly refused to call an ambulance for dying guests. Brit tourist Simone White, 28, and five others died just hours after drinking free booze in the Southeast Asian party hub.

They are feared to have drunk shots contaminated with methanol before falling ill. The eight detained workers are reportedly believed to be Vietnamese nationals.

Danish friends Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald, 21, died after they were left vomiting blood for 13 hours. A witness who tried to help the pair reportedly told their grieving friend, who is gathering crucial testimonies in Vang Vieng, what happened before they died, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The testimony claimed staff refused to call an ambulance and a female worker massaged the toes and feet of one of the Danish women while she was having a seizure. The worker supposedly said the woman was just having a panic attack.

The manager and bartender at the hostel Duong Duc Toan was investigated last week by local police and detained after several tourists were hospitalised. Guests at the hostel were reportedly handed free shots made with local Tiger Vodka, as a gesture of hospitality.

But it's not clear whether the allegedly methanol-spiked drinks were consumed there - or exactly how many unwell tourists remain in hospital. There have also been reports of possible poisoning victims from other venues in the area which served Tiger Vodka.

Toan previously denied that any drinks served at the Nana Backpacker hostel could have made the holidaymakers ill. Staff at the hostel also denied Tiger Vodka was added to the free shots handed out during the venue's happy hour.

Australian friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, also died following the suspected mass methanol poisoning. The teens, from Melbourne, also stayed at the Nana Backpacker hostel.

American man James Louis Hutson, 57, also died. The Laotian government has finally broken its silence on the tragedy and vowed to "bring the perpetrators to justice". It added: "The government of the Lao PDR reaffirms that it always attaches the importance and pays attention to the safety of both domestic and foreign tourists."