The brother of a British tourist killed in a mass methanol poisoning says the failure to charge anyone over her death is a “slap in the face”.
Simone White, 28, was one of six people who died after drinking free shots at the Nana Backpacker Hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, in November 2024.
Authorities in the Southeast Asian country said last week they could not determine whether the deaths were “caused by the actions of any individual or by any specific cause because no autopsies had been carried out.”
Simone’s brother Zak told BBC Newsbeat he found the conclusion “quite ridiculous” as the death certificate issued in Laos listed “methanol toxicity” as one of the causes of her death.
Trainee lawyer Simone and childhood friend Bethany Clarke were among about 100 guests who received free jabs believed to contain methanol.
They felt unwell the next day and were rushed to hospital where Simone, from Orpington, south-east London, was put on life support before she died.
Two Australians, two Danish citizens and an American also died after taking the jabs.
Medical documents seen by Newsbeat state that methanol was detected in Bethany’s blood in November 2024.
“I think for me and my parents, them saying there’s not enough evidence is actually kind of a slap in the face,” Zack says.
“If you have a death certificate with this inscription, surely there is enough evidence?”
Zack previously said his family was bracing for an unsatisfactory resolution to the case because authorities were “reluctant to try to expedite the case.”
The case will remain open for 15 years, but Bethany says she “doesn’t expect much” from the Laotian legal system in the future.
“In my opinion, it’s very clear what happened,” she says.
“I don’t know why it takes a rocket scientist to come to a conclusion about what happened here.”