Laos hostel staff detained after suspected methanol deaths

Police in Laos have detained eight members of staff at a backpacker hostel following the deaths of six tourists from suspected methanol poisoning last week.

According to local media, those detained include workers and management from the Nana Backpacker Hostel in the town of Vang Vieng, where several of the tourists who later died had stayed.

It is unclear how many other people were taken ill and an investigation into the deaths is continuing.

The owners of the hostel, which is now closed, have previously denied serving illicit alcohol.

It is not the first time that police have detained staff from the hostel. The manager was among a number of people who were questioned by police last week.

He earlier told the Associated Press news agency that 19-year-old Australians Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles were the only people staying at the hostel to have become unwell after drinking free shots before heading out for the night.

The pair died days later - after being admitted to hospital in neighbouring Thailand. Theirs were the first deaths suspected to be caused by methanol - a toxic, flavourless and colourless substance commonly added to bootleg alcohol.

Two Danish women and a 57-year-old American man, who were also staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel, died at around the same time.

The two young Danes - Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21 - were found unconscious in their hostel bedroom on 13 November.

That was the same day that the Australian women were taken to hospital after going out to a bar in the city the night before, local media reported.

They were sent to a hospital in the capital Vientiane, but died in the middle of the night. The medical team said the cause of death was sudden heart failure.

Also on 13 November, hostel staff noticed that the American tourist - named as James Louis Hutson - had not come out of his room.

When they went to check on him, he was found lying dead on the bed, with several empty drinks glasses nearby. There were no bruises or wounds on his body, local media reported.

Simone White, a 28-year-old London lawyer, also died after she was believed to have ingested methanol while staying in Vang Vieng.

• What is methanol and how does it affect the body?

The tourists' deaths have cast a spotlight on the popular backpacking town and spooked tourists, especially women, as five of the six who died were female travellers.

Governments including New Zealand, Australia, and the UK, have warned their citizens about drinking spirits in Laos.

Some travellers in Vang Vieng are steering clear of the once-popular free shots and alcohol buckets offered to tourists, telling the BBC that they felt concerned about their safety.

Methanol poisoning is the most prevalent in Asia, mostly affecting poorer communities and places with weak food regulations and enforcement.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Tuesday that another Australian, a dual national, may also have become ill from methanol poisoning.

A New Zealander who had fallen ill from suspected methanol poisoning in the country has now returned home, authorities have confirmed.