<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>333644</docID> <postdate>2024-11-21 14:54:31</postdate> <headline>Teen dies after suspected methanol poisoning in Laos</headline> <body><p><img class=" wp-image-333646" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/20241120176871597685-original-1-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="817" height="454" /></p> <caption>Bianca Jones (right) has died from suspected methanol poisoning. Holly Bowles remains in hospital. (Supplied by 7news/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p class="wire-column__preview__author"><span class="kicker-line">By <b>Holly Hales </b>and<b> Emily Verdouw</b> in Melbourne</span></p> <p><strong>Australian teenager Bianca Jones has died in a Thailand hospital where she was being treated for suspected methanol poisoning after a holiday in Laos.</strong></p> <p>The 19-year-old Melburnian was holidaying with friend Holly Bowles when they became ill, along with a dozen other tourists in the popular town of Vang Vieng, last week.</p> <p>Ms Jones' family confirmed her death in a statement to the Herald Sun on Thursday afternoon.</p> <p>"It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share the news that our beloved daughter and sister, Bianca Jones, has passed away," they said.</p> <p>"She was surrounded by love, and we are comforted by the knowledge that her incredible spirit touched so many lives during her time with us."</p> <p>The family expressed gratitude for the support they received from across Australia in the wake of the tragedy.</p> <p>Ms Jones and Ms Bowles, both from Beaumaris in Melbourne's southeast, had been on life support at separate hospitals in Bangkok.</p> <p>They had planned to stay at the Nana Backpacker Hostel in Vang Vieng and drank at the venue before reportedly going to a Jaidee bar on November 11.</p> <p>They did not leave their dorm room for 24 hours and reported feeling unwell on November 13.</p> <p>Hostel manager Duong Duc Toan said the Australian women had joined more than 100 other guests for free shots of Lao vodka offered by the hostel as a gesture of hospitality, AP reported.</p> <p>Two women from Denmark and an American have also reportedly died after drinking the substance and at least a dozen people have been hospitalised.</p> <p>British lawyer Simone White, 28, from Kent, was among those taken to hospital, The Times reported.</p> <p>Her friend Bethany Clarke urged tourists in the region to avoid local spirits after their group fell ill.</p> <p>"Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free shots offered by one of the bars. Just avoid them as so not worth it," she wrote in a Laos backpacking Facebook group.</p> <p>"Six of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning."</p> <p>The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been contacted for comment.</p> <p>Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said consular assistance was being provided to the families of the two Australians girls in Thailand.</p> <p>Ms Jones and Ms Bowles both played for the Beaumaris Football Club.</p> </body>