Unable to treat such a serious case, the pair was moved to a hospital in the capital of Vientiane. Government-backed media outletThe Vientiane Times, which reproduced parts of the document, reported that they both died at about 3.30am on the 14th. They had been in Laos for a week.
Bianca Jones from Melbourne died in Thailand on Thursday.Credit: Facebook
“The doctor diagnosed the problem as sudden heart failure,” the document said. “Their families will take their bodies back to perform an autopsy in Denmark.”
The precise dates remained unclear, and though the document said the pair got home at midnight on 12th, it could have in fact been midnight on the 11th. A worker at Nana said Jones and Bowles got back to the hostel on the same night or early morning as the Danes.
The Australians spent all the next day in the dormitory, before appearing about 10pm, the worker said. They were “walking around” but apparently having trouble drinking water. About 2am on what was believed to be November 13, the pair were taken to Vang Vieng Hospital.
Hutson, meanwhile, arrived in Laos on July 23 and had been in the tourist town since October 20, according to the government document.
Vang Vieng hospital.Credit: RFA/Citizen photographer
“On November 13, at about 9.10pm, a worker … noticed that the person did not leave the room all day, so he knocked on the door and there was no response. He took the master key and saw that the person was lying on the bed…after that, the owner of the guesthouse and seven employees moved the dead body to Vang Vieng Hospital.
“Inside the room there were four bottles of beer that had been drunk and two bottles of vodka that had been drunk and one bottle was still not consumed. The body was without wounds or swelling.”
The document noted that the doctors had not determined a cause of death because Hutson “died before arriving at the hospital.”
The Vientiane Times added that Nana was closed on November 14, but this was not correct. The hostel continued to take guests this week and the last pair only left on Friday.
“On Saturday November 23, a delegation from the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, including media personnel, was scheduled to go to Vang Vieng to investigate the situation and report on developments,” the news site reported.
The government of Laos publicly acknowledged the tragedy for the first time on Saturday, saying it was “profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign tourists”.
“The Government of the Lao PDR has been conducting investigations to find the causes of the incident and to bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with the law,” it said. “The [government] reaffirms that it always attaches the importance [sic] and pays attention to the safety of both domestic and foreign tourists.”
