An American is the third foreign national believed to have died in the Laos town of Vang Vieng, where a suspected methanol poisoning incident has left two Australian teenagers fighting for life in hospital.
Melbourne women Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both aged 19, are in hospitals in Thailand following the incident in neighbouring Laos last week.
The best friends had been staying at a hostel in Vang Vieng, north of the Laos capital Vientiane while on a “dream getaway” when they fell critically ill. Their parents have flown to Thailand to be by their hospital beds.
On Thursday, a US Department of State spokesperson confirmed a US citizen had died in the town.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and providing consular assistance,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson did not link the death to methanol, and said local authorities were “responsible for determining the cause of death”.
It came after Danish authorities confirmed two of its citizens had also died in Laos.
While confirming the deaths, Denmark’s ministry of foreign affairs did not link them to methanol.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said her thoughts were with the families of Bowles and Jones.
“This is just heartbreaking to have your beautiful, young adults head off on an exciting adventure,” Allan told reporters on Thursday morning.
“For that exciting adventure to end in these awful, tragic circumstances is really heartbreaking for the families and obviously too for the many people in our community who love these two young women.”
Allan said while the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade leads the consular support, the Victorian government was “ready to provide any additional support.”
“These young women continue to be incredibly unwell, deeply unwell and we just hope and send all of our love and strength and support for their recovery and treatment,” she said.
Jones’ parents on Wednesday said they hoped authorities worked out exactly what happened “as soon as possible”.
They told the Herald Sun that the messages of love and support they have received have been overwhelming.
“This is every parent’s nightmare and we want to ensure no other family is forced to endure the anguish we are going through,” they told the publication.
“We hope the authorities can get to the bottom of what happened as soon as possible.”
Jones’s mother is employed by News Corp’s Herald and Weekly Times. Penny Fowler, chair of the HWT, told staff on Tuesday that the teenagers had fallen victim “to an apparent case of methanol poisoning”.
The location of the suspected poisoning has not been confirmed by authorities.
The pair had been travelling through Asia on a “dream getaway” at the time of the incident, the Jones family has previously said.
They had played Australian rules football together at the Beaumaris football club, which on Wednesday extended its “love, best wishes and unconditional support to Holly and Bianca in their hour of need”.
At the time of the incident, the women were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel. It’s manager, Duong Duc Toan, said the women had joined more than 100 other guests for free shots of Lao vodka offered by the hostel as a gesture of hospitality, the Associated Press has reported.
He said hostel staff were told by other guests that the women were unwell after they failed to check out as planned on 13 November, and they arranged transport to a hospital for them.
He said no other guest reported any issue, adding the women had then gone for a night out, returning in the early hours of the morning.
Australia’s Smartraveller website urges tourists to be on the lookout for methanol poisoning, saying as little as one shot can be fatal.
It warns symptoms appear similar to drinking too much but can be “stronger”, leading to vision problems including blindness or death.