Six foreign backpackers including Simone White, a British lawyer, have died after drinking contaminated alcohol in Van Vieng

A little town known as a backpacker paradise in northern Laos has come under spotlight for a mass poisoning case that has killed at least six tourists and potentially injured scores of others.

Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, was one of a number of people taken to hospital after the incident in the popular backpacking town of Vang Vieng last week

The Laotian government has pledged justice for the victims of a mass alcohol poisoning case that has killed six tourists including two Australians.

The deaths of six foreign tourists linked to a suspected mass methanol poisoning has thrown a spotlight on a small town in Southeast Asia that has worked hard in recent years to shed its reputation for excess.

The Laotian government on Saturday officially acknowledged the mass poisoning that has killed at least six tourists, pledging it would bring perpetrators to justice

The government of Laos publicly acknowledged the tragedy, which claimed the lives of two Australians, saying it was “profoundly saddened over the loss of lives”.

Two Australian teenagers and a British woman have died from suspected methanol poisoning after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos

Australian teenager Holly Bowles has become the sixth foreign tourist to die from suspected methanol poisoning in Laos. The 19-year-old died more than a week after falling ill in the tourist town of Vang Vieng,