Summary
Holly Bowles, a 19-year-old Australian, has become the sixth foreign tourist to die from suspected methanol poisoning in Laos.
She and her friend Bianca Jones fell ill in Vang Vieng, a popular backpacking town, after reportedly consuming tainted alcohol, which can be lethal even in small amounts.
Other victims include a British lawyer, an American man, and two Danish women. Methanol, often found in bootleg or home-distilled alcohol, is believed to be the cause.
Authorities are investigating, with the manager of the hostel where free shots were served detained for questioning.
I heard of it as an emergency stopgap measure until you can make it to the hospital to get pumped out and properly treated. But it’s been a while, I could misremember
You can stomach pump some out, but it’s not going to grab anything that’s already in your blood stream. Ethanol is still used as an internal treatment for methanol poisoning.