Two Melbourne teens hospitalised after drinking spiked cocktails in Laos

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Two teenage girls from Melbourne are reportedly fighting for their lives in Thailand after drinking what are believed to be poisoned cocktails in Laos.

Transcript

00:00Well, these two 19-year-old girls from Melbourne were traveling around Southeast Asia with

00:06a group of friends.

00:07They'd just arrived in Vang Vien, which is a popular party town in Laos, just north of

00:13the capital, Vientiane.

00:14They were staying at a backpacker's hostel there, and I spoke to the hostel owner.

00:19He said that last Tuesday night they had gone out on the town, they'd had some drinks at

00:24a bar nearby, and a few hours later they were feeling quite unwell.

00:29In the early hours of Wednesday morning, they were quite sick, and they were transported

00:34to the local hospital.

00:36I spoke to a doctor there who saw them, who said that they were in quite a bad way by

00:39that point.

00:40Particularly one of the girls, she was dizzy, she had blurred vision, she was having chest

00:46pains, difficulty breathing, and ultimately she ended up having a seizure and passing

00:51out.

00:52And at that point, both of the girls were transported to Vientiane, and then on to Thailand,

00:58two separate hospitals, one in Udon Thani, which is in the country's northeast, and the

01:03other here in Bangkok, where they both still remain, from my understanding.

01:08Now they're not the only ones who were caught up in this either.

01:12It's understood that at least two people have died, and a dozen more have fallen ill after

01:18drinking what's believed to be cocktails laced with methanol.

01:23Now methanol is a clear liquid chemical that is often deliberately and illegally added

01:30to drinks as a cheaper substitute for ethanol, and it's extremely dangerous.

01:36It can be deadly even in very small quantities.

01:38Just a single shot can be fatal.

01:41So this is an extremely dangerous and potent chemical, and we saw the impacts of that here

01:46in Bangkok just a few months ago.

01:49There was a case where six people died and another 31 ended up hospitalised after drinking

01:54a local liquor that was spiked with methanol.

01:58So this is serious stuff, and there are lots of warnings now coming from fellow travellers

02:03but also from authorities to know what you're drinking, to try to avoid any drinks that

02:09could be laced with methanol.

02:11Now the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed that it's offering consular

02:16assistance to both of these Australians and their families and says that their thoughts

02:21are with these families at this extremely distressing time.

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