The mother of a British lawyer who died after being served a drink that was allegedly spiked with methanol has said if it can happen to her daughter it can happen to anyone.
Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, was one of six tourists killed in the popular backpacking town of Vang Vieng after an alleged mass poisoning. She was taken in for surgery just as her mother, Sue, 61, arrived at the hospital. It later became clear that Simone’s brain function was gone, and she died on Thursday 21 November.
Police in Laos have detained the manager and seven staff of the backpacker hostel where the drinks were served.
In her first comments since the death of her daughter, White issued a warning to other backpackers.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, she said: “Please be careful when it comes to drinks. Simone was a university-educated, highly intelligent person. If it can happen to her, it can happen to anybody.”
White told the paper that she knew her daughter was going to die as soon as she got the phone call about her condition.
She said: “The flight from the UK was horrendous. Before I left, I got a call from the hospital to say she needed urgent brain surgery and I had to give my consent.
“It was a terrible, terrible journey.”
On the night she was poisoned, Simone and her friends drank six vodka shots served by the hostel, which they mixed with a bottle of Sprite they bought from a local supermarket, the Sunday Times reported. Their condition worsened, and they decided to go to hospital.
White’s father, Neil, 58, told the paper: “I hope that the police investigation brings those responsible to justice, both for Simone and all the other victims. We hope this raises awareness to all future travellers about the dangers of consuming local alcohol.”
Among those who died after the incident were also two teenagers from Australia, two Danish women in their early 20s and an American.
Simone White was a lawyer with the global law firm Squire Patton Boggs, whose work involved general commercial matters, and contentious and non-contentious intellectual property law issues, according to the firm’s website.
Laos is one of south-east Asia’s poorest nations and a popular tourist destination. Vang Vieng is particularly popular among backpackers seeking nightlife and adventure sports.
Officials in Laos have released few details about the case, and the government is keeping a tight lid on information.
The country is a one-party communist state with no organised opposition. Reporters Without Borders has described Laos as “an information ‘black hole’ from which little reliable information emerges”.
Those grieving others who died in the incident have expressed their mistrust in the authorities. One of the friends of the Danish women who died told the Guardian: “They say that they’re investigating but I think that they don’t.”
Backpackers in Laos say they have stopped drinking spirits since the incident.