Australian who drank tainted alcohol in Laos has died, raising toll to 4

An Australian teenager has died after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos in what Australia's prime minister on Thursday called every parent's nightmare. An American and two Danish tourists also died, officials said, following reports that several people had been sickened in a Laotian town popular with backpackers.

An Australian teenager has died after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos in what Australia's prime minister on Thursday called every parent's nightmare. An American and two Danish tourists also died, officials said, following reports that several people had been sickened in a Laotian town popular with backpackers.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Parliament that 19-year-old Bianca Jones had died after being evacuated from Vang Vieng, Laos for treatment in a Thai hospital. Her friend, also 19, remains hospitalized in neighbouring Thailand.

"This is every parent's very worst fear and a nightmare that no one should have to endure," Albanese said. "We also take this moment to say that we're thinking of Bianca's friend Holly Bowles who is fighting for her life."

They are believed to have consumed drinks tainted with methanol, which is sometimes added to mixed-drinks at disreputable bars as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, but can cause severe poisoning or death.

Telephone numbers listed for Laos' Health Ministry did not work and police refused to comment on the incident.

Australia said "several foreign nationals" had also been victims of methanol poisoning. The U.S. State Department confirmed that an American had also died in Vang Vieng, and Denmark's Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens had also died in "the incident in Laos," but neither would comment directly on a link to the methanol poisoning that killed Jones.

Shaun Bowles told reporters outside Bangkok Hospital on Wednesday that his daughter remained in critical condition and on life support.