Officials arrested eight hostel workers in Laos on Monday for allegedly poisoning travelers with methanol, according to reports from the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Tourists reported illnesses after consuming alcohol in the town of Vang Vieng,

An Australian teenager has become the sixth foreign tourist to die in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos, as a growing list of countries warned of the potentially fatal consequences of drinking tainted alcohol in the Southeast Asian country.

The fatal poisoning of at least six people, including two Australians, in Laos has triggered a police operation at tourist bars in a Thai city popular with travellers. Australian teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, died last week after falling critically ill while holidaying together in the city of Vang Vieng.