UK backpacker dies from poisoned alcohol in Indonesia
Cheznye Emmons, 23, has life support machine turned off after drinking methanol from a bottle labelled as gin
Martin Williams
The Guardian Saturday 18 May 2013 10.15 BST
Cheznye Emmons was trekking with her boyfriend and another traveller in the Indonesian jungle when they drank the methanol. Photograph: Peter Lawson/East News Press Agency
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.
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."
Home-brewed spirits are common in Indonesia because of an alcohol tax of more than 200%, but methanol is a by-product of poor distillation techniques.
