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.

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.

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

Simone White was enjoying a holiday with friends in Laos last week when she accepted a free shot from a bar. The 28-year-old British lawyer has now been named as the fifth person to die in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in the backpacking town of Vang Vieng.

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.