A British lawyer is in hospital after she was served a drink allegedly containing the poisonous substance methanol while on holiday in Laos.
Simone White, 28, was one of at least 10 tourists who fell ill in Vang Vieng, a popular backpacker destination last week with suspected alcohol poisoning.
Police in the south-east Asian country are investigating the incident on Nov 12, which has already claimed the lives of two Danish women in their 20s and an American.
Methanol is a cheap form of alcohol that can be lethal even in small doses.
Ms White, who is from Orpington, Kent, is an intellectual property and technology lawyer for American law firm Squire Patton Boggs, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The Telegraph understands Ms White is currently in hospital.
Bethany Clarke, a friend of Ms White’s, warned other travellers to “avoid all local spirits” on a Facebook group for backpackers in Laos and said she was amongst a group of six who had been taken to hospital with “methanol poisoning”.
“Urgent – please avoid all local spirits,” she wrote. “Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free shots offered by one of the bars.
“Just avoid them as [they are] so not worth it. Six of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning.”