Udon Thani/Vang Vieng: An American man is the third person suspected to have died after a mass drink poisoning in Laos that killed young Danish women and left two Australian teens fighting for their lives.

The US State Department on Thursday confirmed the death of one of its citizens in Vang Vieng, a tourist town where at least 10 people became seriously ill last week from drinking spirits believed to be laced with methanol, a cheap and deadly form of alcohol mostly found in crude or criminal brews.

Melbourne friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles had been backpacking there alongside travellers from all over the world until a night out on November 11 and 12. They had been drinking at the bar of their accommodation, Nana Backpacker Hostel, but their movements in Vang Vieng after this were unclear.

The State Department said it was “closely monitoring” the situation. The spokesperson declined to provide specific dates or details about the American victim but said that he died while still in Vang Vieng. Most, if not all, the other victims were moved to bigger hospitals in the capital, Vientiane, or in neighbouring Thailand.

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It was up to local authorities to determine the cause of death, the US said. While this has not yet happened, or at least not publicly announced, Laotian authorities are believed to be investigating it as a poisoning.

Denmark’s Foreign Ministry had earlier confirmed two of its citizens, aged 19 or 20, had died.

This masthead has also been told the case had reached the highest levels of the Laos government and that senior figures had ordered further work.

Accordingly, police appeared to be escalating what had been a lacklustre and low-profile investigation.