A friend of two Danish women who tragically died after drinking methanol-laced drinks has revealed how she warned the pair to be careful before they travelled to Laos.
Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, had been on a trip of a lifetime backpacking across south-east Asia when they were poisoned in the small party town of Vang Vieng last week.
The two women are among six foreign tourists who have died after drinking contaminated vodka at the tourist hot spot. All victims had been staying at Nana Backpackers Hostel, which has since closed amid a police investigation.
Daniela Rodriguez was on a solo trip around south-east Asia when she met Ms Coyman and Ms Sorensen in Vietnam during a group motorbike tour around the mountainous northern region of Ha Giang.
Ms Rodriguez said she became particularly close to Ms Coyman, who she described as a ‘very happy’ and ‘cheerful person’.
‘Together we were a bomb of energy,’ Ms Rodriguez told Daily Mail Australia.
Ms Rodriguez said she warned the two women to be cautious of danger in Laos, which has relaxed safety rules and bars that openly sell drugs to tourists.
The last she heard from the pair was the day before they died, when they told her they were having fun on their new adventure in the landlocked country.
Daniela Rodriguez is pictured with Anne-Sofi Coyman during their time together in Vietnam
Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, died on November 14 while backpacking around south-east Asia
She had been on a trip of a lifetime with her friend Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, when the pair were fatally poisoned by methanol. Ms Sorensen is pictured at her high school graduation in June last year
‘The first thing I told them was that it is beautiful but to be very careful about everything in Vang Vieng because drugs were everywhere there,’ Ms Rodriguez said.
‘We stayed in touch until the last day, they told me they were enjoying themselves and they were really enjoying it.
‘I never expected this to happen to them, I suspected a little why they didn’t answer messages, but it never crossed my mind.’
In a heartwarming gesture, Ms Rodriguez has vowed to visit the women’s home country as she had promised them.
‘Always in my heart,’ she wrote on Instagram in tribute to the women.
‘I will fulfil my promise to visit Denmark.’
The two women were among dozens of guests who were given free vodka shots at the backpackers lodge on November 12 – a happy hour initiative that is common among hostels in the area.
The tragedy also claimed the lives of Australians Bianca Jones, 19, and Holly Bowles, 19, British woman Simone White, 28, and American man James Louis Hutson, 57, and has left about another 11 other foreign nationals in hospital still fighting for life.
All the deceased victims had been staying at the same backpackers, however, the five women had gone out to various local bars later that evening after enjoying the free shots at the hostel.
There is no indication that any of them took any other substances other than drinks spiked with methanol.
The new details come as a British traveller has revealed how rattled tourists have left Vang Vieng or abandoned their plans to visit altogether in the wake of the tragedy.
Natasha Moore, 22, from Manchester, told Daily Mail Australia on Sunday had been staying in the party town over the past week as news broke about the fatalities.
She said other travellers she knows decided to leave after hearing what had happened, while others on tourist social media groups had now decided to boycott the area.
She said that it was frightening watching the mass poisoning situation unfold while she was staying in Vang Vieng.
‘When I first arrived in Vang Vieng, it was just a rumour that two women had died,’ she said.
Daniela Rodriguez said she would always keep the memories they shared together in her heart
British traveller Natasha Moore (pictured) decided to leave Laos after becoming spooked by the tragedy
The Danish women are pictured in Vietnam a few weeks ago, with friends they made while travelling around South East Asia. Ms Sorensen is standing on the far left, while Ms Coyman is standing second from the right
‘Then over the process of being there for five days, the total went up to six – and it just seemed like there were more and more that we would find out about.’
Ms Moore said that she has decided to fly to Australia to get out of Laos because she was ‘feeling a bit scared’.
‘To be honest I just want to get out,’ she said.
‘My advice to people in Laos would be don’t take any free shots! And to be honest, given the situation, I wouldn’t even chance it with spirits or cocktails. I would just have bottled drinks that you can see being opened.
‘If one bottle has been laced with methanol, what is to say that the establishment where it came from hasn’t sent out more bottles that have been laced.’
The Danish girls, originally from Roskilde, a town of around 53,000 people 35km west of Copenhagen, were on a gap year after graduating from high school in June 2023.
Photos posted online just days ago show the women were having the time of their lives as they travelled around Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.
In September, the pair spent time in Thailand, feeding elephants in Chiang Mai and visiting Ayutthaya historical park.
They then ventured on to Cambodia, where they explored Hindu-Buddhist temple complex Angkor Wat and Kompong Phluk, a floating village, before cycling around Silk Island.
In October, they journeyed to Vietnam, where they hiked Lang Biang mountain, floated in a canoe down the canals of Hoi An, and motorcycled the winding roads through the mountainous Ha Giang.
Photos posted online in recent weeks show the girls having the time of their lives as they explored Vietnam (pictured), Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos
The two girls are pictured spending time with local children during their time in Vietnam
Ms Sorensen is pictured enjoying a drink earlier in their trip, while the women were in Bangkok
Earlier this month, they made their way to Laos – where they booked into Nana Backpackers in Vang Vieng.
Shortly after the poisoning a man who shared a mutual friend with Ms Sorensen and Ms Coyman posted a warning online, urging other travellers to be cautious about their drinks.
‘The past few days I have been busy with a Belgian friend looking for two girls he travelled with,’ the man wrote.
‘For more than 72 hours, no contact could be made while they had agreed to meet in Vang Vieng.
‘The strange thing was that their last message was that they had both been vomiting blood for 13 hours… They have both since died.’
According to local police reports obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Sorensen and Ms Coyman drank at the hostel before going to local bars on the evening of November 12.
They arrived back around midnight but spent the entire next day in their room, before they were discovered about 6pm lying on their bathroom floor unconscious.
They were taken to Vang Vieng Hospital in a coma before being transported to a hospital in the capital of Vientiane. They were reportedly declared dead at about 3.30am on the 14th.
The two women were reportedly staying in Nana Backpacker Hostel when workers found them unwell in their rooms after they were late to check out. Pictured is the hostel
Hostel manager and bartender Duong Duc Toan (pictured), has claimed it wasn’t his Tiger Vodka that made the tourists sick and Daily Mail Australia does not suggest otherwise
Like the young Danish girls, Ms Jones and Ms Bowles, both from Melbourne, were on a gap year holiday of a lifetime when they fell sick while staying at Nana Backpackers on November 12.
Staff became concerned after they failed to check out on November 13 and arranged to take the pair to hospital after they ‘calmly’ asked for assistance.
CCTV from inside the hostel shows one of the women being transported to a local clinic on the back of a motorbike being driven by a hotel staff worker.
Both women were taken to hospitals in Thailand. Ms Jones died on Thursday, and Ms Bowles the following day.
Ms White, a lawyer who had worked with the global law firm Squire Patton Bogg, White was from Orpington, in south-east London, was among a group of up to six British nationals who fell sick last week after partying in Vang Vieng.
Her death was confirmed on Thursday shortly after Ms Jones’.
Meanwhile, Mr Hutson, who arrived in Vang Vieng on October 20, was found unconscious in his hotel room on November 13, lying next to four empty bottles of vodka and two empty bottles of beer.
He was taken to a local hospital, but declared dead upon arrival.
Authorities in Laos on Friday detained the manager and owner of the hostel, Duong Duc Toan, for questioning, but no charges have been laid.
Nana Backpackers offers free shots to guests over a two hour period every night, however, Mr Toan has told media his alcohol was not responsible .
He said more than 100 guests were given free shots of Lao vodka on the night of the poisoning but only a portion of the guests had fallen ill.
The hostel has since closed amid the police investigation.
Melbourne teen Bianca Jones (pictured) died in hospital on Thursday
Australian teenager Holly Bowles has died after suffering alleged methanol poisoning during a holiday in Laos with her best friend
Simone White, 28, from the UK, is one of six tourists to have died after falling ill last week
Meanwhile, tributes have begun to pour in online for the victims of the mass poisoning.
One school friend of Ms Sorensen and Ms Coyman said the pair were ‘so f***ing young.’
‘I’m going to miss and remember you always,’ a friend of Ms Coyman wrote online.
‘Thank you for everything.’
Ms Jones’ family said she was surrounded by love in her final moments.
‘We are comforted by the knowledge that her incredible spirit touched so many lives during her time with us,’ they said.
‘We want to express our deepest gratitude for the overwhelming support, love, and prayers we’ve received from across Australia.
‘The kindness shown to our family during this unimaginable time has been truly humbling.’
Confirming their daughter’s death on Friday, Ms Bowles family said they ‘find comfort and solace in knowing that Holly bought so much joy and happiness to so many people.’
‘Holly was living her best life travelling through South East Asia meeting new friends and enjoying incredible experiences,’ they said in a statement.
‘As her parents we were always so incredibly proud of everything Holly did. Holly was an amazing big sister to James and she always looked out for him.’
