BANGKOK - A second Australian woman hospitalised after drinking contaminated alcohol in a popular tourist town in Laos has died, the government said on Friday (Nov 22), the sixth fatality from suspected methanol poisoning.

Holly Bowles, 19, died in a hospital in neighbouring Thailand, where she had been evacuated for emergency treatment, the Australian foreign ministry said. Her friend died on Thursday in an another Thai hospital.

"It is with broken hearts, and we are so sad to say that our beautiful girl Holly is now at peace," her father, Shaun Bowles, told Australia's Nine News.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia would continue efforts with Lao authorities to investigate what she described as a tragedy.

"I know tonight all Australians will be holding both families in our hearts," Wong said.

Altogether, six tourists - two Danes, two Australians, a Briton and an American - have died after visiting Vang Vieng, an idyllic town in the Southeast Asian nation that is popular with foreign backpackers.

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