this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2024
279 points (100.0% liked)

News

23367 readers
2637 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Summary

Four people have died, including 19-year-old Australian Bianca Jones, two Danish women in their 20s, and a 56-year-old US citizen, after suspected methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng, a popular backpacker destination in Laos.

Several others, including six British and one New Zealand traveler, remain hospitalized.

The poisoning is believed to be linked to free shots offered at a local bar, prompting warnings from travelers to avoid local spirits.

Authorities fear a mass poisoning, with investigations underway into the source of the contaminated drinks.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah the issue is that methanol mixed with ethanol, which you naturally find in spirits that have been distilled carelessly (or in cost cutting) is less poisonous than pure methanol. Ethanol is actually an antidote to methanol poisoning (although not the preferred one if fomepizol is available) so when they’re mixed you’re less likely to die from it (though you still might go blind, as methanol is acutely toxic to the optic nerve).

In these cases where multiple people died I’m more likely to suspect they were served commodity methanol which is used as a fuel additive and industrial solvent. This stuff is extremely cheap and readily available.

What a tragedy. I feel terrible for these people! My former roommate knew a girl in high school who died from methanol poisoning at a party after some kids found a bottle in somebody’s garage. It’s really terrible.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What a tragedy. >I feel terrible for these people! My former roommate knew a girl in high school who died from methanol poisoning at a party after some kids found a bottle in somebody’s garage. It’s really terrible.

On a related note, I am struggling to understand why the US still denatures alcohol to intentionally make it fatal for teens. Other countries require that denatured alcohol be dyed and to have terrible bitter flavors added so that it can't be accidentally confused with a strong liquor. Hell, the Soviets even required this.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

The U.S. has a very strong affinity for the Just-World Fallacy. It underlies almost everything you can think of in terms of their laws and beliefs. Many Americans believe in retributive justice, not rehabilitation or restorative justice. Many Americans are also strongly individualist and staunchly opposed to government regulation.

I think a lot of this can be traced back to the US’s founding as a set of colonies leading to the Declaration of Independence. This gives American culture a rugged independence, rebelliousness, and anti-government-intervention.