Hooch kills four tourists

Four foreign tourists have died after a suspected mass methanol poisoning from drinking tainted alcohol at a back-packer hotspot in Laos, Western government officials and media said yesterday.

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A young Australian woman was the latest confirmed death, and her friend was fighting for her life, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Two Danish citizens and an American had also died, after what media said was a night out in Vang Vieng where they drank possibly tainted alcohol.

The group of about a dozen tourists became ill after going out on 12 November, according to British and Australian media.