The cause of death of British lawyer Simone White has been revealed after she drank methanol shots at a backpacker hotspot in Laos.
The 28-year-old died of a brain haemorrhage after being unknowingly poisoned by the dangerous substance nine days before her death.
Simone was one of several young women who died after allegedly being offered free vodka shots at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in traveler hotspot Vang Vieng.
Mrs White, from Orpington, south London, died on November 21 at Kasemrad International Hospital in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
At the opening of an inquest into her death on Monday, a court heard she died of methanol poisoning, which led to an intercranial haemorrhage.
Police in Laos are still investigating the incident, which left five people dead.
Senior coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe told the short hearing she expects delays as local authorities continue to investigate the events.
Simone White, 28, died on November 21 in Laos after drinking shots containing methanol
She told the inquest: 'I ordered an autopsy which has taken place, histology taken and a specialist neuropathologist examining the brain. That will take some time.'
According to the Sun, she continued: “An investigation is underway in Laos. I'm not authorized to ask for papers there, but obviously I will once the investigation is complete.
'There will be a judicial investigation, but normally it takes a long time before you receive documents from abroad.
'We are also awaiting the specialist histopathology results and the family will be informed as soon as we have them and once the investigation abroad has been completed we will request the paperwork.'
Australian Bianca Jones, 19, also died in the horrific incident, along with two Danish women in their 20s and a 56-year-old American man.
Ms White was a lawyer specializing in technology and intellectual property in the London office of US law firm Squire Patton Boggs.
After completing her A-levels at St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, she studied law at Newcastle University before taking the accelerated course at BPP Law School.
Ms White's friend Bethany Clarke, a health worker also from Orpington, took to the Laos Backpacking Facebook group to warn other travellers.
She said: 'Urgent – please avoid all local spirits. Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free shots offered by one of the bars.
“Just avoid them because it's not worth it. Six of us who drank in the same place are currently in hospital with methanol poisoning.”
Hostel manager and bartender Duong Duc Toan, who served the shots, denied that it was his Tiger Vodka that had made the tourists sick.
He was later arrested by police along with seven other staff members.
Methanol is sometimes found in alcoholic beverages in Southeast Asia as a cheaper, counterfeit alternative to ethanol.
The Foreign Office has issued guidance to Britons traveling to the country, warning them against consuming replica alcohol brands that may contain hidden levels of methanol.
This is a current news item and is being updated.
