Six people are so far dead, with the cause suspected as methanol-tainted drinks in the town of Vang Vieng, Laos.

Counterfeits of well-known alcohol brands and home-made spirits are a common problem in the gap year destination

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.