British lawyer, 28, dies with four others after free shots' poisoning

A BRITISH lawyer has died on holiday in Laos after apparently being poisoned by a drink contaminated with methanol.

- Mark Reynolds

Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, is the fifth person to have died from a suspected rogue batch of contaminated alcohol.

She is understood to have fallen ill last week. At least 11 people, including other Britons, remain in hospital after allegedly being served laced drinks at a bar in riverside town Vang Vieng.

Simone's friend Bethany Clarke raised the alarm on the Backpacking Facebook page.

Laos She wrote: "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 as so not worth it. Six of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning." Simone was an associate lawyer specialising in intellectual property and technology in London at the American law firm Squire Patton Boggs.