Danish family only found out about daughter’s methanol poisoning in Laos after she failed to meet a friend
The parents of the Danish tourist who was one of six to die from methanol poisoning in Laos have revealed they only realised she was in trouble when she failed to meet up with a friend.
Danish backpackers Freja Sorensen and Anne-Sofie Coyman, aged 21 and 20 respectively, died alongside Australian friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, while on holiday in the party town of Vang Vieng last month.
Bianca and Holly were laid to rest in Melbourne last week after their parents flew to Asia to bring their bodies home.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Speaking with Danish publication DR, Freja’s father Karsten Sorensen said he also had to fly to Laos to bring his daughter home and warned young travellers to take care.
“We won’t get Freja again,” he told the Danish publication.
“But I am left with the thought that all the young people who travel out into the world must know that this (poisonings) is something to be aware of.
“It’s really important to me.
“It must not be in vain”.
Freja’s mother Rikke Vennervald Sorensen said it was actually a friend who raised the alarm about their sick daughter.
When they were unable to contact Freja, her parents reached out to Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Shortly after, two police officers were knocking on their door to deliver the news.
“We can’t help but think how long it would have been if we hadn’t raised the alarm ourselves,” Ms Sorensen said.
“It is thought-provoking, and it is also part of the warning.
“That you cannot expect the same help from the authorities in other countries as in Denmark”.
The tragic development comes a week after documents from a Laos Government department suggested the source of the deadly mass methanol poisoning that killed six people, including two young Australians, was a rundown factory near the country’s capital.
The documents from the Ministry of Health’s Department of Food and Drugs, obtained by the ABC, show an order to close the factory located near Vientiane that was producing vodka and whisky.
It also stated an analysis of the factory revealed “contamination that may pose a risk to public safety”.
According to the ABC, the owner of the factory has been arrested.
Locals also said the building had been closed following visits from health inspectors and police.
Eight people from the hostel at which Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles were staying when they fell sick have already been detained and are assisting the police with their investigation.
Three more people who were working at the hostel, two Indian men and a Filipino woman, have also now been arrested the ABC said.
Charges are yet to be laid.
According to a Smartraveller update last week, the country’s authorities issued an order prohibiting the sale and consumption of Tiger Vodka and Tiger Whisky.
“(This is) due to their concerns about these products being a health risk,” the website, run by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said.
It’s been previously reported a bottle of Tiger Vodka could be purchased for as little as $2.50.
A warning has also been issued for Australian travellers to be wary of consuming mixed drinks.
“Several foreign nationals, including Australians, have been victims in November 2024 of methanol poisoning through consuming alcoholic drinks,” Smartraveller said.
“Be alert to the potential risks particularly with spirit-based drinks including cocktails.”
Melbourne backpackers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, died in hospitals in Thailand last month after consuming drinks containing methanol while travelling in Vang Vieng, a popular tourist town in Laos.
British lawyer Simone White, 57-year-old American man James Louis Hutson and Danish women Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21 also died in the mass poisoning event.
It’s understood several other tourists fell ill, including another Australian who is also a dual national.
The manager of the hostel, Nana Backpackers, previously said the women had joined more than 100 other guests for free shots of Lao vodka offered by the hostel as a gesture of hospitality.
He said no other guests reported any issues.
