• 3 days ago
Lucy Davidson stayed at the Nana Backpacker hostel in Laos last week, where six people died from methanol poisoning. A number of people were taken to hospital after the incident in the popular backpacking town of Vang Vieng last week.Police in Laos have detained the manager and owner of a hostel in connection with the death of six people from suspected methanol poisoning, including a British lawyer.Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, was among a number of people taken to hospital following the incident in the popular backpacking town of Vang Vieng last week.The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed her death on Thursday.Five others are currently known to have died, including two Australian teenagers, an American and two Danish tourists.The FCDO said it was in contact with the local authorities regarding the British nationals affected.Those poisoned in the incident are believed to have been served drinks tainted with methanol, which is sometimes used by disreputable bars as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, but can cause severe poisoning or death.
Transcript
00:00Extreme tiredness, I was violently throwing up, I could barely see, it was just like bright lights.
00:05Last week I got severe methanol poisoning from a hostel in Ban Bieng in Laos.
00:12I'm not trying to tarnish the country, its people, the hospitality business in any way by making this video.
00:19So it's really normal for hostels in South East Asia to offer like a happy hour or an hour
00:26where you get free drinks, whether that be beers or spirits or cocktails.
00:30We had a big table of about ten people and we were all sharing what was given to us
00:35was like a bottle of locally sourced Lao vodka.
00:39It wasn't until 15 hours later that my symptoms started to kick in,
00:45which were extreme tiredness, I was practically asleep for a whole day,
00:52I was violently throwing up, I was really lucid, I had visual impairment,
00:56like I could barely see, it was just like bright lights.
00:59My boyfriend made the decision to take me to a private hospital in Vientiane
01:05and the people there literally saved my life.
01:23I know I am stating the obvious here, but honestly if you are travelling South East Asia,
01:29just please stick to bottled beers, coke, wine.
01:34If you are wanting alcohol that's a cocktail or a spirit,
01:38just please 100% know what it is before you have it.
01:41We're sensible people, this happened to us, you never think it's going to happen to you.
01:46So just please be vigilant about what you're putting into your body.
01:49My thoughts and prayers honestly go out to all the people that have been affected
01:53and I just want everyone to hopefully be able to heal from this.

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