Simone White (left) and Bianca Jones (centre) have boh died after they were poisoned. Holly Bowles (right) remains critically ill
A bar in Laos which allegedly poisoned and killed five people including a British woman openly sells hard drugs to customers, it has been claimed.
At least seven tourists were taken to hospital after drinking shots laced with methanol in Vang Vieng.
Simone White, from Kent, was backpacking through the country and staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel and bar when she became ill after taking the shot.
The 28-year-old lawyer was reportedly recovering from the poisoning but was confirmed to have died yesterday.
Australian Bianca Jones, 19, was also pronounced dead yesterday after drinking the contaminated alcohol on November 12.
Two Danish women in their 20s and a 56-year-old American man have also died after drinking the shots.
Ms Jones’ best friend Holly Bowles, who she was travelling with, remains critically ill.
On the night they drank the poison Ms Jones and Ms Bowles left the hostel and travelled to beachfront Jaidee’s Bar and were taken to hospital hours later.
The bar reportedly sells hard drugs to customers (Picture: Facebook/Jaidee Bar VV)
Duong Duc Toan, the manager of Nana Backpack hostel displays a bottle of vodka, in the bar of the hostel (Picture: AP)
The venue offers free spirits and has a hard copy ‘drug menu’ which offers opium, ecstasy and ketamine.
Locals said the bar has links to the Asian mafia with links to orgnised crime, The Herald Sun reports.
The bar boasts of being the place to be for ‘drinking, talking, smoking, and smiling but no fighting’.
One Tripadvisor review reads: ‘Ignore bad food reviews, this is a ‘happy cafe’ so don’t come for good food. This place has an excellent ‘happy menu’. This place has some really good stuff’ but another labelled it ‘intense’.
Caption: A notice displayed at the bar of Nana Backpack hostel(Picture: AP)
But Ms White is not reported to have been at Jaidee’s Bar.
Hostel manager and bartender Duong Duc Toan said he served the shots to around 100 guests that night, and insisted nothing had been tainted by him or his staff.
He also said he bought the Tiger Vodka from a certified distributor.
Hostel staff have been interrogated by police who have demanded to see the bottles of spirits which were served on the night of the poisonings.
Penalties for taking and distributing drugs in Laos are harsh, including life sentences and the death penalty.
A number of lao nationals were sentenced to death in 2019.
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