World

Action wanted against fatal cocktails

08:20 am on 8 January 2013

The Indonesian government is being urged to crack down on bars selling spiked alcoholic drinks and to make them accountable for the deaths of more than a dozen tourists.

A teenager was the latest to die after consuming a drink laced with methanol on the island of Lombok over New Year.

The Lombok Hotel Association says using methanol to make cheap drinks is a serious problem in Indonesia, responsible for 25 deaths in the past decade.

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned travellers that arak, a distilled palm wine used in cocktails, can contain methanol.

A toxicologist at the National Poisons Centre says even drinking a small amount of methanol can cause blindness or death.

Dr Leo Schep said people won't know it has been mixed into a cocktail, as it has no taste.

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