Australia rallies for families of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, as ...
Melbourne teenager Holly Bowles continues to fight for life after the Laos mass methanol poisoning that has claimed five lives, including her friend Bianca Jones.
The 19-year-olds were on a "dream" backpacking holiday when they consumed tainted drinks in the popular tourist destination of Vang Vieng last week.
They were transferred to hospitals in neighbouring Thailand when their conditions deteriorated.
Ms Jones died this week, with Thai police confirming to the ABC that methanol poisoning was the cause of her death and that she had a high concentration of it in her blood.
There are now five deaths linked to a mass methanol poisoning in the Laotian party town – two Danish women, an American man and British woman Simone White.
On Friday morning, the UK Foreign Office confirmed the 28-year-old had died and said the UK government was supporting her family and was in contact with local authorities.
The UK Foreign Office has confirmed the death of British woman Simone White, 28, in Laos. (Facebook)
Ms Bowles remains on life support in a Bangkok hospital, where her parents are by her side.
Local police have launched a major investigation into where the poisonous alcohol came from.
Vang Vieng is a small town with a reputation for partying and is particularly popular with backpackers. It is about 130 kilometres north of Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, in South-East Asia.
The Melbourne bayside football club where Ms Jones and Ms Bowles played has been rallying around their teammates.
The Beaumaris under-18s team met at the club earlier this week to support one another.
The club says it's gutted by the methanol poisoning but has been overwhelmed by community support. (Supplied: Beaumaris Football Club)
Club president Nick Heath said Ms Jones's family was by her side when she died.
"They embraced her and said goodbye in the way that they would have liked to," he told reporters on Friday.
He said the Jones family wanted him to convey their gratitude for the love and support they had received from people across Australia.
Mr Heath said Ms Jones and Ms Bowles were part of the "COVID generation that missed out on their social lives for a couple of years" and were taking a well-deserved holiday.
Beaumaris Football Club president Nick Heath says Bianca Jones's family were able to embrace her before she died. (ABC News: Mietta Adams)
"Like so many young people do, in all the excitement when you're presented with a situation, where you're around lots of other people in a backpacker environment … and cheap drinks and happy-hour drinks are presented, in all the excitement, their best judgement probably is bypassed for just one moment and that's all it takes," he said.
"That's why so many people relate to this because it just could happen to anybody and it just really smacks you right between the eyes.
"They deserved some social life, they deserved their time in the sun, and now this happens – it's just devastating."
Flowers and a balloons have been laid at Beaumaris Football Club as a tribute to 19-year-old Bianca Jones, who has died in a Thai hospital. (ABC News: Mietta Adams)
Tonight's season launch has been put on hold and will instead become a chance for the wider seniors group to gather as they grieve Ms Jones and continue to await news on Ms Bowles.
The club is organising a fundraiser to help with the travel expenses of the Jones and Bowles families, as well as to "bring Bianca home" and pay for her funeral.
PM pauses parliament to acknowledge Bianca Jones's deathFederal MP for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel, represents the community where Bianca Jones lived and has told ABC Radio Melbourne the community was coming together to support the Jones family and the family of Holly Bowles.
"These girls are just a couple of girls who went off on an adventure to South-East Asia having worked casual jobs and saved up money to have this amazing holiday together and it really has hit home here," she said.
That sentiment was echoed in federal parliament on Thursday, when question time was paused to acknowledge the tragedy.
"Bianca's trip should have been a joyous time and a source of fond memories in years to come, memories that she should have carried with her into the long bright future that lay ahead of her," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
"It's beyond sad that this was not to be."
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said drink spiking and methanol poisoning were far too common in many parts of the world and implored parents and young travellers to discuss the risks.
"Please inform yourselves, please let's work together to ensure this tragedy doesn't happen again," she said.
On Thursday evening, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder paid tribute to the teenagers at his show in Sydney, describing the situation as "senseless".
"The one young woman, Bianca Jones, she's passed. Her friend Holly Bowles is hanging in and wish her the best and we're thinking about her parents," he said.
Methanol is an odourless, colourless liquid used in products such as paint stripper, insecticide and dyes.
In some countries with more relaxed liquor regulations, methanol is illegally added to alcoholic beverages to drive down production costs.
Drinking a small amount — sometimes as little as a shot glass — can be fatal, as methanol is broken down by the body into chemical compounds that attack the organs.
Caution urged over alcoholic drinks overseasThe Australian Travel Industry Association's Dean Long said extra precautions were needed when travelling in countries where alcohol regulations were not as strict as they were in Australia.
"If you're going to consume any food or beverage, make sure it's a closed bottle, make sure you know exactly where it's come from," he said.
"Don't drink things just because the locals are. It's a higher-risk environment when you go overseas."
Young travellers are being urged to take extra precautions to try to protect themselves against drink spiking. (Unsplash: Helena Lopes)
He said Bali and Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Costa Rica and Turkey had had issues with unsafe alcoholic drinks being served over the years.
But he said it was not practical to tell young travellers not to drink alcohol at all.
"You just have to be aware and the most important thing is it's probably not the best to have open drinks," he said.
"Make sure it's a well-recognised brand, make sure it hasn't been opened, check the safety seals."
