Harrowing details emerge of Australian teenagers’ desperate plea for help after drinking poisoned cocktails and becoming very unwell during a ‘dream getaway’ in Laos

Hostel staff recalled how two Australian teenagers now fighting for their lives begged for help, claiming they could no longer breathe after consuming drinks laced with methanol.

Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, both aged 19 from Melbourne, are on life support in separate hospitals after becoming unwell while staying at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Laos last week.

The best friends were on a “dream vacation” gap year trip through Southeast Asia when authorities suspected they drank poisoned cocktails that reportedly contained tainted shots of “vodka” while vacationing in the party city of Vang Vieng.

They were among a large group of international travelers who fell victim to a suspected mass poisoning that has already claimed the lives of two other tourists.

The staff at Nana Backpackers Hostel became concerned when Holly and Bianca were unable to leave their room for almost an entire day.

They spent the day sleeping before finally asking the receptionist to take them to the hospital.

They were transported one by one by a hostel worker on his motorbike before both were transferred to separate hospitals in neighboring Thailand after their conditions rapidly deteriorated.

An employee told the Herald Sun that the girls were very calm when they came out of the rooms in search of medical help.

Melbourne teen Bianca Jones (pictured) is put on life support after drinking cocktails laced with methanol while on holiday in Laos

Bianca’s best friend Holly Bowles (pictured) is also fighting for life in hospital

‘No one found them, they walked to the reception. They sat in their room all day. “We didn’t know what happened to them because they go out and party,” he said.

‘They come and tell my staff: can you please help me, take me to the hospital. They are having trouble breathing, the night shift staff quickly takes her to the hospital.’

It has also been revealed that Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Bowles had been drinking free spirits in the hostel bar next to their ground floor unit the night before they got sick.

Toan Van Vanng, a bartender who was working when the girls were last seen, told the publication that they were not poisoned at his bar.

He poured them a Lao Pdr Tiger Vodka with 40 percent alcohol and mixed it with ice and Coke Zero.

Mr Vanng said he purchased the alcohol from a certified distributor and insisted he or his staff had not contaminated the alcohol.

To prove his point, Mr Vanng drank from one of the vodka bottles in use that night to prove it was safe.

Ms. Bowles and Ms. Jones started drinking at 8 p.m. when happy hour started and eventually left the bar at 10:30 p.m., Mr. Vanng said.

He said they only had three drinks each while playing cards.

A hostel manager said the fact that guests from multiple different hostels were poisoned by the contaminated drinks proves this did not happen at his bar.

‘Right now the police [are telling] every hostel, hotel and bar must stop selling drinks in Vang Vieng,” he told the publication.

Toan Van Vanng, a bartender who was at work when the girls were last seen, insists they were not poisoned at his bar

The teenagers were staying at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Laos last week when they became unwell

The girls had gone on the trip to celebrate their recent 2023 graduation from Mentone Girls’ Grammar and Beaumaris Secondary College.

It is understood they planned to return home in time for Christmas.

Two of the fourteen people believed to have been poisoned by the laced drinks have already died. It is believed that the couple had Swedish nationality.

The teens’ families have made the mercy tour to Thailand to be by the teens’ side and ‘pray’ that the couple makes it out alive.

Mrs. Jones’ family says yes “I can’t believe what happened to our angel.”

“Our beautiful Bianca was on a dream holiday with her best friend Holly,” they said the Herald Sun.

“They were filled with joy and had such incredible adventures ahead of them as they traveled through Asia.”

Ms Bowles’ uncle Dale said the stress of the ordeal had a monumental impact on the families now divided between Australia and Thailand.

“There’s just this sick feeling in your stomach that just won’t go away,” he said.

“Right now it’s a day-by-day process… all we can ask of her is just keep fighting.”

Cafe staff at Frank’s cafe in Cheltenham, where Mrs Bowles has been employed for more than two years, described the teenager as a likeable person.

‘She’s just an absolute star. She is a bundle of joy. To know her is to love her,” the cafe manager, who did not want to be named, told The Age.

Australian authorities are providing consular assistance to the teenagers’ families.

The girls stayed at the Nana Backpackers Hostel (pictured) in Laos, where they had been drinking at the hostel bar the night before they fell ill on November 12.

Nana Backpackers Hostel has been removed from booking site Hostel World due to the methanol poisoning.

Another tourist who arrived at the hostel after the girls were rushed to hospital said he was surprised to receive a discount when he got there.

When he heard what had happened, the backpacker said, “I’ve never had a discount before, I should have seen that coming.”

Methanol is a toxic alcohol that is mainly found in… industrial products and is usually fatal if ingested and left untreated.

Drinking between 25 and 90 ml is enough to cause death.

Symptoms of methanol poisoning include: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, breathing difficulties, blindness and seizures.

In countries with high taxes on alcohol, the chemical is often mixed with alcoholic drinks as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, according to the Methanol Institute.

The Australian government’s Smartraveller website is warning tourists to be careful in Southeast Asia after a series of similar poisonings recently occurred.

‘Alcohol production is less regulated in some destinations than in Australia. This may lead to methanol being used in the production process to reduce costs,” Smartraveller’s warning said.

‘Methanol is very toxic. Just one shot can be fatal. Locals and foreigners, including Australians, have died or become seriously ill from poisoned drinks in destinations including Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Costa Rica and Türkiye.’