An Australian teenager has become the sixth foreign tourist to die in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos, as a growing list of countries warned of the potentially fatal consequences of drinking tainted alcohol in the Southeast Asian country.

Officials arrested eight hostel workers in Laos on Monday for allegedly poisoning travelers with methanol, according to reports from the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Tourists reported illnesses after consuming alcohol in the town of Vang Vieng,

A third Australian has fallen ill after consuming methanol-laced alcohol in Laos. So far, six people have died and eight arrests have been made in what is suspected to be a mass methanol poisoning.

Southeast Asia has the "highest rates of methanol poisoning globally", said Al Jazeera, and this is often blamed on "economic pressures and weak regulations". Laos, despite its increasing popularity with backpackers, is one of the poorest nations in the region.