Tragedy in Southeast Asia: The Suspected Methanol Poisonings

Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones’s devastated families have pleaded with Laos authorities to get to the bottom of a suspected mass methanol poisoning tragedy. The Australians, both 19, are among six foreign tourists who have died in Laos. It’s not clear how the tourists came to ingest the suspected poison, but their deaths have started a conversation about the possible dangers of bootlegged liquor. Victorian state reporter Adeshola Ore tells Reged Ahmad what we know happened in Vang Vieng and why the parents of the teenagers who died hope their deaths are ‘not in vain’ You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport