Two Danish backpackers who tragically died in a mass poisoning in Laos had messaged a friend, saying they had been vomiting blood for hours, before falling silent. They were later found dead. The two women had drunk alcohol from the same batch which is suspected to have been laced with methanol, a toxic substance.
The poisoning also claimed the lives of four others, including Australian teenagers Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, while 11 more foreign nationals remain hospitalized fighting for their lives. Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, both from Roskilde, Denmark, had been backpacking through Southeast Asia on what was meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
Vomited Blood for Hours Before Death
They were staying at Nana Backpackers in Vang Vieng, Laos, and had plans to reunite with a Belgian traveler they had met earlier in their journey. The two Danish women told their friend that they had been vomiting blood for hours but then stopped responding.
Concerned, he spent several days trying to locate them before learning they had died.
The incident sparked an online warning, with a friend of the Belgian backpacker expressing deep sorrow over the tragedy. "The past few days I have been busy with a Belgian friend looking for two girls he travelled with," the man wrote.
"For more than 72 hours, no contact could be made 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 have both since died."
According to local police, Sorensen and Coyman had drinks at the hostel bar on November 12 before heading to other nearby bars. They returned to their room around midnight and stayed there for the rest of the night.
The next day, around 6 p.m., staff found both women unconscious on the bathroom floor of their room.
They were immediately transported to the hospital but were reportedly pronounced dead around 3:30 a.m. local time on November 14.
Fatal Vacation
The same lethal batch of alcohol is believed to have caused the deaths of two Melbourne backpackers, 19-year-olds Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones. Reports suggest that the Melbourne teens drank toxic cocktails while visiting Vang Vieng, a popular tourist destination around 130 kilometers north of Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
According to the staff at the Nana Backpackers Hostel, where they were staying, the teens had drinks at the hostel's bar on November 11 before heading out to another location.
The two teens spent the next day resting in their room and later came out and told staff that they were struggling to breathe and needed medical attention, according to the Herald Sun.
A hostel employee, nicknamed Pikachu, mentioned that the girls approached reception staff for help and appeared to be in critical condition. Earlier, the women had reportedly joined the 8 p.m. happy hour at the hostel bar, had a few drinks, and left for a party around 10:30 p.m.
Jones and Bowles died this week, one day apart, in Thai hospitals after reportedly suffering from suspected methanol poisoning.
The Laotian government has vowed to hold those responsible accountable. In a statement released on Saturday, officials expressed their condolences, stating the nation was "profoundly saddened by the loss of lives among foreign tourists."
Duong Duc Toan, the owner of a backpacker hostel in Laos, has been taken into police custody for questioning. However, no charges have been filed against him at this time.
