Australian Federal Police have offered to help the Laos investigation into multiple deaths linked to a suspected mass methanol poisoning event.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Melburnians Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, were among six foreign tourists to die.
"They were best friends in the best days of their lives," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Parliament on Monday.
"There is no crueller arithmetic than adding up the years not lived, the potential not fulfilled, the dreams not lived or that might have been."
Australian officials were working with local authorities and federal police offered assistance.
Mr Albanese said the government had made it clear to Laos officials its expectation the investigation to be thorough and transparent.
Australian officials on the ground have been able to bring together representatives from Denmark, the UK and the US.
Friends of the teens from Beaumaris, in Melbourne's southeast, have adorned their suburb with blue and yellow ribbons in their memory as loved ones call for funds to bring their remains back to Australia.
Their families want to raise awareness about methanol poisoning and have started a GoFundMe in memory of their daughters.
The page has raised more than $201,000 as of Monday afternoon.
"Tragically, their journey, along with visitors from different countries, was cut short when they fell victim to methanol poisoning - a hidden danger that claimed their lives just one day apart," the fundraising page stated.
"This campaign, organised by the families of Bianca and Holly, aims to raise awareness about the dangers of methanol poisoning - a silent but deadly risk that often claims lives without warning."
The fundraiser's three main objectives are to relieve financial burdens for the families, support existing initiatives and fund awareness campaigns.
Among these burdens was to help the families cover out-of-pocket expenses, including those bringing their remains back to Australia.
Former home affairs minister Clare O'Neil said plans were in place to assist the teenagers' loved ones as they prepared to return to Australia.
"DFAT is working with the two families here and I know we will be doing everything we can as a government to support them," she told ABC radio.
"Both in the grieving that they need to do here and in the work they're trying to do to get some of the problems they see that have occurred overseas addressed."
The friends had been on holiday in Laos when they became ill along with a dozen other tourists in the popular town of Vang Vieng.
They failed to check out at the Nana Backpacker Hostel on November 13 after going to the Jaidee Bar.
Ms Jones and Ms Bowles were evacuated to Thailand and died in separate Bangkok hospitals after their parents raced to be by their bedsides.
Two young Danish women, a British lawyer and an American man in his 50s also died from the contaminated drinks.
A New Zealand citizen who was among those poisoned has left Laos and returned home, according to the country's embassy in Bangkok.
Ms Jones' father said his daughter was on the trip of a lifetime and wanted to explore the world to meet new friends.
"Her life had just begun," Mark Jones told reporters in Bangkok on Saturday.
"We'll forever miss our beautiful girl and hope her loss of life has not been in vain."
Thai authorities have confirmed Ms Jones died of "brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system".
Mr Jones urged the Laos government to investigate the incident to the fullest extent to avoid it happening again.
Australian Associated Press
