Yet another tourist has been killed in Indonesia after drinking alcohol which was actually poisoned. The young backpacker (23 year old), Cheznye Emmons from Britain died after drinking alcohol labelled as “gin” bought from a shop in Indonesia, the alcohol turned out to be methanol. The young women and her boyfriend along with another friend had consumed the deadly alcohol while trekking through the jungle. All 3 suffered serious health problems such as loss of sight, kidney failure and seizures, according to media reports.
Guardian.co.uk reported:
A British backpacker has died after drinking poisoned alcohol in the Indonesian jungle.
Cheznye Emmons, 23, had bought a bottle labelled “gin” from a shop, which turned out to be deadly methanol. The beauty therapist from Essex had been trekking with her boyfriend and another man they met while travelling.
All three suffered health problems after drinking the methanol, which can cause kidney failure, blindness, seizures and death. Emmons lost her sight and was taken through the jungle to the nearest eye clinic. She was referred to hospital where she was placed in an induced coma.
Her parents flew to Indonesia where they eventually decided to turn off her life support machine.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/18/uk-backpacker-dies-poisoned-alcohol-indonesia
Tourists travelling to Indonesia have been warned to be very cautious about where they buy alcohol because home-brewed spirits are common in the country. It is thought that the country’s high alcohol tax (more than 200 per cent) is the reason why people opt to make their own concoctions at home but methanol produced is a by-product of poor distillation techniques and can be fatal.
Although the home made method of making alcohol is illegal in Indonesia people often “disguise” the home made brew as regular commercially made alcohol by packaging it in that way.
Who can forget the case of the Australian teenager who died in January after drinking methanol disguised as alcohol while on holiday in Indonesia. The government began cracking down on this illegal and extremely dangerous trend thereafter however there seems to be some cases that slip through the cracks especially in remote areas such as the Indonesian jungle, a very harsh reminder to anyone wishing to visit the tropical nation.
The post on Guardian.co.uk went on to quote the following:
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We can confirm the death of a British national in Indonesia and we are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time.”
Her brother, Michael Emmons, said: “We’re all just in shock. From what we understand, the shop poured the gin out of the original bottle and then replaced it with methanol. It was in the original bottle with the gin label on it. As far as we’re aware, the shop has been shut and there’s a police investigation.”
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/18/uk-backpacker-dies-poisoned-alcohol-indonesia
Advice to tourists visiting Indonesia – while the Indonesian government has taken steps to root out these criminals profiting off other people’s suffering, they still have a long way to go to stamping out this illegal trade completely, so in the meantime if you are visiting Indonesia on holiday, be extremely careful about where you buy your alcoholic drinks and only drink from sealed bottles obtained from reputable and safe establishments such as the restaurant or bar at your hotel.