Father's emotional plea after death of his daughter from methanol poisoning
The grieving father of 19-year-old Bianca Jones, who tragically died after consuming methanol-laced cocktails in Laos, has issued a plea to ensure his daughter’s death was not in vain.
Bianca and her friend Holly Bowles had been travelling around south-east Asia on a gap year trip when they consumed the deadly drinks in the party town of Vang Vieng, a popular tourist area about 130km north of Laos capital, Vientiane.
Both Bianca and Holly were rushed to seperate hospitals in Thailand, and passed away last week.
Speaking publicly for the first time about the tragedy, Bianca’s father Mark Jones, said his daughter’s “lust for life and adventure” had “cruelly been cut short”.
“Our daughter was on the trip of a lifetime with one of her best mates,” he said.
“This was meant to be a trip full of lifelong memories, and was to be the first of many. Bianca wanted to explore the world, meet new friends, lead and create change for good.”
Following the deaths of the two young women, an outpouring of sympathy flooded in from around Australia including from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, while hundreds attended a vigil held in the women’s honour in Melbourne on Saturday.
Mr Jones thanked Australian government for its support but made a plea to authorities in Laos.
“I would like to take this opportunity to urge the Laos government to investigate this to the fullest extent, to make sure this incident doesn’t happen again,” he said.
“We can’t have the passing of our daughter … not lead to change to protect others. Young men and women should be able to travel, create their own life experiences and be safe."
“We’ll forever miss our beautiful girl and hope her loss of life has not been in vain.”
The Laotian government has promised to bring perpetrators to justice after the mass poisoning that has killed six tourists, including the two Australian women.
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