For Bethany Clarke, poison had no taste. There was no bitterness, no sharp sting on her tongue. If anything, she briefly thought the free shots she and her friends were drinking at a hostel bar in Laos might have been watered down—she couldn’t detect much vodka flavor through the Sprite she’d mixed it with.
Clarke recalls having about five of those shots while sitting with her best friend, Simone White, and a group of others during the hostel’s happy hour. CCTV footage captured them laughing in the warm evening air at the open bar in Vang Vieng, with colorful lights flickering around them.
By the next evening, they were in the hospital. Soon after, White passed away.
Clarke recounts the terrible aftermath with stark clarity. They woke up thinking they had severe hangovers. On a tour bus, their condition worsened: White began vomiting, and Clarke fainted, hitting her head. They debated whether it was food poisoning, a hangover, or a virus. Eventually, someone decided they needed to find a hospital. As they waited in the ward, the grim reality set in—something was seriously wrong, and White was getting sicker. They heard her breathing turn to short gasps, learned her brain was swelling inside her skull, and finally, her life support was switched off.
“That was November 21, a year ago, when they turned the machine off,” said Clarke, who is from the UK but lives in Brisbane. “It was honestly just a living nightmare.”
White, also British, was one of six tourists who died in the 2024 Laos poisoning after drinking methanol-contaminated beverages. Methanol, a cheap and deadly cousin of ethanol, is increasingly finding its way into alcohol supplies in regions where spirits are poorly regulated, expensive, or available on the black market, often with devastating results. A lethal dose is just 30ml, and as little as 10ml can cause permanent blindness.
Bethany and at least six others survived, though one was blinded by the toxin’s damage to the optic nerve.She is now advocating for greater awareness of methanol’s dangers. While their story gained significant attention, experts note it’s just one example of a widespread global issue that often goes unnoticed, unrecorded, and unreported.
“This is a hidden crisis,” explained Knut Erik Hovda, a doctor, professor at the University of Oslo, and an international authority on methanol poisoning outbreaks. “It’s massive and overlooked—it fades from view only to resurface elsewhere when least expected.”
This month, the UK government expanded its travel advisories to include 11 more countries where travelers risk methanol poisoning, citing an increase in fatalities and severe illnesses. This brings the total to 38 nations on the warning list. However, methanol poisonings have occurred worldwide. Research by a team from Oslo University Hospital and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has recorded suspected incidents in nearly 80 countries, involving over 1,000 poisoning events, 41,000 affected individuals, and 14,600 deaths.
Hovda emphasized that these documented cases are “only the tip of the iceberg.” Many outbreaks are never identified as methanol-related or go unreported. In regions where alcohol is prohibited or stigmatized, victims may hesitate to seek help. Identifying methanol poisoning can be challenging: symptoms like vomiting, dizziness, and rapid breathing can mimic other conditions, and they may not appear until a day or two after consumption, making the connection to the drink unclear. Distinctive symptoms like blindness or vision changes sometimes occur, but medical professionals can be misled. “We call it the great imitator,” Hovda said. Additionally, since outbreaks are infrequent, hospitals worldwide often lose institutional knowledge about methanol over time.
Misconceptions exacerbate the problem, such as the belief that poisonings only result from homemade alcohol. While unregulated spirits are a known risk, recent outbreaks have also been tied to tainted official alcohol supplies, where methanol is added to sealed bottles and distributed widely.
In one tragic case, Rafael dos Anjos Martins Silva, a 27-year-old lift maintenance technician from São Paulo, Brazil, bought two bottles of gin with friends on August 31. After drinking at his home, he fell ill the next evening, experiencing vomiting, severe abdominal pain, and blindness. Rushed to the hospital by his parents, he became unresponsive and died on October 23 after 53 days in a coma. His death is part of a surge in Brazil, with 16 confirmed fatalities and 46 poisonings this year—far above the usual annual average of about 20 cases. Police found methanol in the gin bottle and are investigating links to illegal alcohol operations that sourced methanol from fuel stations.
At the time of Silva’s poisoning, hospitals in Brazil faced shortages of pharmaceutical ethanol, the antidote for methanol. “Brazil failed my family,” his mother lamented. “They didn’t take it seriously enough from the start.”
The tragedy of mass methanol deaths is compounded by the fact that, while the poison…While poisonings can be difficult to identify, they are often straightforward to treat. “If I can reach you early enough, I can ensure you leave the hospital in a few days fully recovered,” Hovda explained. There are two effective antidotes: fomepizole, the preferred medical treatment, though it can cost over $1,000 per dose, or surprisingly, alcohol. Alcohol halts the body’s conversion of methanol into toxic formic acid, allowing it to be eliminated gradually. Hovda recalls one outbreak in Kenya where 35 men were lined up in a ward and given an alcoholic beverage every two hours. Five were blind before treatment, but all survived.
Hovda treating patients during a deadly methanol outbreak in Kenya. Photograph: MSF/Knut Erik Hovda
Methanol poisoning can lead to brain damage, blindness, or death within days. This underscores the need for hospitals, healthcare workers, and governments to be ready with trained staff, antidotes, and public alerts about tainted supplies. Although awareness efforts often highlight risks to Western tourists, the vast majority of fatalities occur among local communities, particularly those who are poor or marginalized.
Chart on suspected methanol poisoning deaths
According to the MSF database, Iran has recorded around 10,000 methanol poisoning deaths over the past 20 years—a persistent public health issue that has received little international attention. India has reported another 6,500 deaths, with outbreaks mainly affecting the rural poor. Some of the largest recent outbreaks have been in Turkey, where a series of poisonings have claimed over 160 lives.
I was 19 and on the trip of a lifetime – then I drank a cocktail laced with methanol. Read more.
In Turkey, social taboos and high prices combine to create ideal conditions for outbreaks. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose AKP party often promotes Islamic moral standards, the government has raised taxes on spirits and banned alcohol advertising. Ozgur Aybas, head of the Turkish Tekel (liquor) stores platform, commented via WhatsApp: “Nowhere else in the world does the tax on a product exceed its price. Here, it’s three, five, even 10 times higher. Is it really surprising that people turn to selling, supplying, or producing illegal alcohol under these circumstances?”
A bottle of raki, an anise-flavored spirit similar to ouzo, can cost £28 in a grocery store—a significant amount in Turkey, where the monthly minimum wage is around £470. For many, this is unaffordable, fueling a thriving black market for illicit alcohol.
“We’re no longer shocked when we hear on the news that 10 people died in a restaurant,” says Gökhan Genç, a 36-year-old resident of Ankara. “It’s become normal.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about methanollaced alcohol designed to be clear concise and helpful
Basic Understanding Definitions
1 What is methanol and how is it different from normal alcohol
Normal drinking alcohol is ethanol Methanol is a different highly toxic chemical often used in industrial products like antifuel and solvents It is not meant for human consumption
2 Why is methanol sometimes found in alcoholic drinks
Methanol is sometimes added illegally to bootleg or counterfeit liquors because its cheap and has similar effects to ethanol at first It can also be produced accidentally during improper brewing or distillation
3 How can I tell if a drink is laced with methanol
You cant reliably tell by looking smelling or tasting it Methanollaced alcohol often looks and smells identical to safe alcohol The only way to know for sure is through laboratory testing
Dangers Health Effects
4 What makes methanol so dangerous
When your body processes methanol it breaks down into highly toxic acids like formic acid These acids attack your central nervous system eyes and organs leading to permanent damage or death
5 What are the symptoms of methanol poisoning
Early symptoms are similar to being very drunk The critical warning signs are severe abdominal pain blurred or cloudy vision and difficulty breathing These can appear 172 hours after drinking
6 Can methanol poisoning cause blindness
Yes The toxic byproducts of methanol are particularly damaging to the optic nerve and permanent blindness is a very common outcome of poisoning
7 Does methanol cause brain damage
Yes The toxins can cause swelling and damage to the brain leading to longterm neurological problems seizures and coma
8 Is there an antidote for methanol poisoning
Yes but it must be administered quickly in a hospital The antidote is often ethanol or a drug called fomepizole which blocks your body from converting methanol into its toxic form
Causes Common Problems
9 Where do most methanol poisoning outbreaks happen
Outbreaks occur worldwide but are more common in places with poor regulation high taxes on legal alcohol or where homemade or illicit alcohol is widely consumed
