Lee Hudswell dies in Vang Vieng, Laos

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The backpacker craze of tubing down the Nam Song River in Laos has claimed the life of a Sydney man who died after leaping from a platform into the river.

Lee Hudswell, 26, hit his head when he jumped from a tower beside the riverbank onto an inflatable inner tube yesterday.

The Cronulla man was taken to hospital in Vang Vieng, about four hours north of the capital Vientiane, but later died from his head injuries.

A doctor at the hospital, who asked not to be named, said Mr Hudswell arrived about 5pm yesterday after a tubing accident but died at 6pm.

Brad Haigh, of New Zealand, who saw the accident, said Mr Hudswell jumped from a tower and landed badly in the river about 4pm.

''People put him on his side and tried to resuscitate him. But nobody knew what was happening. He jumped into the river, which is what everyone does, but there was no first aid on the river and no one knew what to do,'' he said. ''He was taken to hospital in a tuk-tuk. It was shocking.

''Last year, 22 people died here in the river. It's all good fun, drinking and dancing by the river, but when you add the free whisky, tubing and slides, it's really dangerous.''

There is no suggestion Mr Hudswell was drinking before he leapt into the river.

Another Australian tourist, who had been on the river the previous day, said the river was very low because it was not the rainy season. He described trapezes and platforms made from bamboo and metal rigged from the trees on the sides of the river. There was no obvious regulation or safety precautions.

Mr Hudswell's cousin, Kelsey Hunter, said his death was "devastating."

"He was known for his cheeky smile and his fierce loyalty to his family and friends."

Mr Hudswell's uncle, Ray Hudswell, said the family had heard he died after falling from a flying fox.

"He was a wonderful, energetic young man. Handsome, popular, and a superb athlete. He will be sorely missed."

"He had a sense of adventure, he played cricket with sutherland and rugby leage, and he enjoyed extreme sports."

Brooke Pritchett gets injured tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos

http://www.laopride.com/pictures2/brooke-pritchett-injured-tubing-in-vang-vieng1.jpg Brooke Pritchett one hour before her accident

http://www.laopride.com/pictures2/brooke-pritchett-injured-tubing-in-vang-vieng2.jpg Ms Pritchett had 11 screws put in her foot

A young Melbourne woman badly injured "tubing" in Vang Vieng, Laos, has issued a warning to others not to be "stupid tourists" and take care in the party town.

Her warning comes two days after a 26-year-old Australian backpacker died after leaping off a tower and landing awkwardly in the Nam Song River.

Vang Vieng, a magnet for backpackers travelling to South East Asia, is popular for tubing - a term which refers to floating down the river in inflatable rubber tubes but also includes water jumping activities as well as drinking and dancing at riverbank bars.

Brooke Pritchett, 23, said she endured a "horrible" experience after jumping off a Tarzan rope and smashing her right ankle on a rock in shallow water on Christmas Day in 2010.

Getting medical help proved a nightmare, she said.

"You just don't understand how dangerous it is," said Ms Pritchett, who was four days into a two-month tour of Laos and Cambodia when the accident happened.

"It's a party atmosphere. Everyone is there in the middle of nowhere and you think 'yahoo, we can do whatever we want'.

"But there's nothing there - no safety, no one looking out for anyone. It's a party town that makes money off stupid tourists."

A fellow backpacker piggybacked a crippled Ms Pritchett up a hill to a road where they could hail a tuk-tuk driver to take the Australian to the small hospital in town, a 30-minute drive away.

A doctor X-rayed Ms Pritchett's ankle and told her there were no breaks, she said. He administered morphine, bandaged her ankle and sent her back to her hostel with a packet of anti-inflammatory pills but no pain relief medication.

Ms Pritchett was confined to bed and watched her right leg turn black from the knee down as she waited an agonising day-and-a-half for the next bus to Vientiane.

After a five-hour bus ride to Vientiane then a flight to Bangkok, the Australian finally reached an English-speaking hospital where doctors found multiple fractures, put her leg in a splint and told her to fly home for surgery.

Three operations later, Ms Pritchett has 11 screws and one plate in her ankle and still requires physiotherapy each week.

"I will never go back to that river," Ms Pritchett said.

Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos


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Very sad. Have fun and be safe everybody.
:o :(

You mean people actually died there? No way, that's hard to believe that such a fun place that serves alcohol and has so much water for you to swim, could be so dangerous. What could be better than going for a swim after you are drunk out of your mind. It makes it easier to jump off a cliff and into the water, and in this case, fall awkwardly off the flying fox to look cool in front of all your drunk friends that probably had a hard time finding you after, since they are all drunk too.

Melbourne student dies in second tubing tragedy


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[list bull-redball]

Was tubing with mates in Vang Vieng

Second Aussie tourist in a month to die while tubing in the same area

Family rush to Laos for frantic search mission

Inspired friends to 'be thrill seekers'



The body of a Melbourne teenager has been found in a river in Laos, three days after he disappeared while tubing in the popular tourist destination.

Daniel Eimutis, 19, was on holidays with six friends when he disappeared at Vang Vieng on Monday night, triggering a frantic search by family and friends.

The University of Melbourne student's aunt, Anna Boundy, posted last night on a Facebook page set up to find Daniel that he had drowned.

"My beautiful nephew's body has been found. He drowned," she wrote.

"Thank you to everybody who helped in the search. We will post details of funeral when we know the details."

Ms Boundy said it could take up to two weeks to bring Mr Eimutis' body home to Melbourne.

His parents and brother had flown to Laos earlier this week to help in the search, and will now bring his body back to Australia.

The former Melbourne High School student is believed to have been tubing - the popular practice of floating along the river on an inner tube - when he struck trouble.

He was last seen around 8pm near the tubing section of Vang Vieng, a popular resort for backpackers.

He had left his identity documents and wallet at a local hotel, triggering a frantic search by family and friends.

He is believed to have travelled to Thailand with friends before continuing on to Laos.





Daniel had been travelling with six friends.

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They need life jacket and safty training about the danger. Alcohol and swimming don't mix.
  :(

Third death in Laos

A young Victorian backpacker has become the third Australian to die in Laos in the past month.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade today confirmed the death of a 22-year-old Australian man in Laos.

Consular staff in Australia are providing assistance to the man’s family.

The death comes after 19-year-old Melbourne man Daniel Eimutis was found in a river three days after going tubing with friends in Vang Vieng two weeks ago.

Daniel, a strong swimmer, did not return to his guesthouse after he went tubing and is believed to have drowned.

Earlier in the month, 26-year-old Sydneysider Lee Hudswell was also killed while tubing in Vang Vieng.

It is believed he landed badly after jumping off a tower into the river.

It is not yet known how or where the 22-year-old Victorian died.

More to come.

Backpacker dies in Laos in the third Aussie death in one month


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Backpacker third Aussie to die in Laos

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirms death of Victorian, 22

Two Aussies earlier killed in tubing accidents



Another Australian backpacker has died in Laos in the third such death in the country in the past month.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed the man, 22, from Victoria died while on holiday in the south-east Asian country.

"Consular staff in Australia are providing assistance to the man's family," a spokeswoman said.

She added the man's body was found yesterday in Luang Prabang, in the country's northwest and local authorities would be handling the investigation into his death.

There are unconfirmed reports the man was travelling with his Dutch girlfriend, who is now believed to be missing.

The Dutch embassy in Bangkok confirmed it was investigating reports of a missing woman in Laos, but would not provide further details.

The tragedy follows the tragic death of Melbourne man Daniel Eimutis, 19, who died in a tubing accident in Vang Vieng two weeks ago.

He was found in a river three days after partaking in the extreme sport with friends.

In the same month, Sydney man Lee Hudswell, 26, was also killed while tubing in Vang Vieng.

Tubing is a hugely popular attraction in the Vang Vieng area and draws thousands to the area each year.

While some travel websites describe it as "thrilling" it is noted that it can be an "extremely dangerous" activity, particularly if tourists are doing it while drinking.

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Alexander Lee was found dead in his hotel room in Laos.



The mother of a man found dead in a Laos hotel has spoken of her family's heartbreak.

Alexander Lee, 22, of Yarraville, was found dead alongside Dutch woman Rianne Brouwer in their hotel in Nongkio Village, in the central province of Luang Prabang, on Tuesday.

Local doctor Say Phanom told the Herald Sun drugs were found near the bodies.

Mr Lee's mother, Mary-Anne Rushford, said her family were struggling for information on how he died.

"You're very lucky that you've spoken to a doctor. I'm finding it very difficult to get any information, and I'm his mother," she said.

Police believe the couple may have been dead for up to three days.

Mr Lee is the third Australian to die in Laos in the past month. The other two were tourists tubing in the Vang Vieng area.

Dr Phanom said there were no signs of physical injury to Mr Lee's body.

"We are waiting on a report from the pathologist, but from what we could see there was nothing abnormal detected on the body," he said.

"The police said that they found some drugs in the room. Many drugs. But I cannot confirm that they've overdosed, because I have no examination results.

"On my certificate of death all I can write is death by unknown origin," he said.

Mr Lee's body was to be taken yesterday to the capital, Vientiane, where Australian officials were expected to take possession.

Ms Rushford said her family was keen to have her son's body back as soon as possible.

"We're just here all together grieving," she said.

"We've been overwhelmed with support, and it's been fantastic, and that's where we're at at the moment.

"It's going to be a big process to get his body home, and we're having to deal with all of that."

Luang Prabang Provincial Tourist Police yesterday declined to comment on Mr Lee's death, directing inquiries to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

"I wrote a report and gave everything to the embassy," a policeman said.




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Dutch woman Rianne Brouwer.

Australian woman nearly dies in Laos


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Travellers relax and enjoy a drink before inner-tubing down a Laos river.


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Annika Morris drinks a free shot of whisky while tubing

Rushed to a local hospital as sight and hearing faded

"Could be another story of some one found dead down the river"



A Melbourne teenager who almost died while tubing in Laos has her best friend to thank for saving her life.

19-year-old Annika Morris's heart stopped multiple times in hospital after she drank a shot of free whisky at a Vang Vieng bar on Monday.

Annika's dad, Jeff, said his daughter and her friend Melba Blyth-Elvin were on a tubing trip when the drama unfolded.

He said if it wasn't for her friend's intervention, his daughter would be just "another statistic".

"She shouldn't really have survived, that's the sobering thing. She should've died on the river," Mr Morris said.

He said Ms Blyth-Elvin rushed Annika to a local hospital as her sight and hearing faded.

After local doctors tried to administer pennicillin, which Annika is alergic to, Mr Morris said a travelling German doctor intervened.

"He was performing a type of CPR.

"My undertsanding is her heart stopped on numerous occasions."

Mr Morris said Annika recovered after up to five hours of CPR. He believes Annika drank a black-market concoction and that her drink wasn't spiked.

He said the German doctor said it appeared methamphetamines were in her system because of her dilated pupils.

Travel blogs refer to a popular Laotian whiskey called Lao-Lao whiskey, which is highly potent and can be infused with scorpions or snakes.

"I don't believe her drink was spiked, it's more likely the alcohol, which was a black-market whisky, if anything.

"I think the free whisky is a real no-no because they're using that to entice you into their bar, they're not going to spend money on quality because they're giving it away," he said.

He said the girls were "shellshocked", arriving in Melbourne today after cutting their dream holiday short.

The near-tragedy comes after three young Australians died in Laos in recent weeks.

Yarraville man Alexander Lee, 22, was found dead with his dutch girlfriend in a Luang Prabang hotel room last week.

Sydney man Lee Hudswell, 26, and Daniel Eimutis, 19, died in separate incidents while tubing in Vang Vieng in January.

Mr Morris said Ms Blyth-Elvin, Annika's childhood friend, was a "legend'', and thanked the backpacker community for rallying around his daughter.

"If Annika had been by herself she could well have just floated down the river and could be another story of some one found dead down the river," he said.

Mr Morris said while he and his wife warned Annika of the perils of travelling, he never expected his daughter to fall ill through a toxic drink.

"Kids are always going to do this stuff - they're teenagers and they're high-risk animals. But I think they should be aware that anything like this that is free is probably highly dangerous," he said.



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Annika Morris (left) who came close to death
after taking a potent whisky shot in Laos.

Enough  >:( , what a shame! The issues around the safety of these installations and the behavior of tourists could be easily addressed and this bloody mess cleaned once and for all!
It is not that difficult to determine the depth of available water and limit the height of the platforms! Only sites that presents the right conditions should be used for such activities. Preparing and maintaining such areas is highly feasible by digging at the dry season. A large apparel for that purpose should cost around 200-250 usd a day, operator and fuel included! Pubic drunkenness can be easily discouraged and a proper dress code encouraged!
If the local police force really wanted to do their jobs no drugs will be available at all to the tourists! How much wealth and taxes those unfortunate young fellows would had generated for their respective nations? What a waste!
Why nothing so far have been done? Concerned nations should help or force Lao authorities to tackle the problem.
the sums needed are not that enormous, safety standards and regulations for operating those "fairs attractions" are not that difficult to generate and enforce. Providing assistance and training can be easily done. If nothing is done for the safety of tourists; concerned nations should  have a duty to strongly discouraged their citizens to visit Vang Vieng! What had become Vang Vieng is disastrous for the image of Lao. Just look at this article! http://wikitravel.org/en/Vang_Vieng
A drugs heaven in a kind of "fareast", a "no rule" zone could only reinforce on their positions those who thinks that lao PDR is only a poorly ruled narco-state. This bad publicity is highly detrimental to tourism in Lao. Has anyone got information about the new "Vang Vieng" where tubing tourists should be relocated. Is the question of safety during tubing has been considered? Any news articles about the subject, anything? no rumors? Please someone bring me some hope!

Your suggestion of a proper dress code won't come into force because tourists are having a day out at a river and not in a temple.

There are more to do besides tubing in Vang Vieng such as sightseeing and exploring the caves. More often than not, it's young people who get injured or killed in tubing related activities.


Be careful in Vang Vieng
Have fun and relax in the river, but do not act like fools and disturb the waters or you risk death. Senior Lao people tell me there are water ghosts in Vang Vieng, and they like to take young people to be their partner.

It's also recommended that you say a short prayer in your language. Something along the line that you're here for a holiday and to look after you, and to assure the ghosts that you will not cause any trouble.

The dress code have to be enforced in the town during the evening. They have nothing to do almost half naked in the streets! Blame the ghosts if it can comfort yourself. I will not say a prayer for the victims but cast a curse on all the corrupted officials, military and police force who are the true culprits. Lao is a sick country, some of your people are totally corrupt. Easy to blame tourists! Your officials to not protect tourist on the contrary they prey on them. I wonder what are they doing to their own people? When injustice is law rebellion is duty. What have u done of your soul! I can assure you if any member of my family died in a tubing accident, i will have the true owner of the platforms killed! Death to tyrants and their zealous slaves! >:( >:( >:(

Laos is a corrupt country, there's no doubt about that, but you have to take responsibility for your own actions.

The officials, military and police force are not telling you to drink alcohol then go and jump in the river. What you want to do is your choice.


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Sad but true. It's about money and power. There's corruption is everywhere in the world, but it's worst when there's no freedom of press and people has no say. :(


wrote on 28^th Feb, 2012 at 7:35am:

The dress code have to be enforced in the town during the evening. They have nothing to do almost half naked in the streets! Blame the ghosts if it can comfort yourself. I will not say a prayer for the victims but cast a curse on all the corrupted officials, military and police force who are the true culprits. Lao is a sick country, some of your people are totally corrupt. Easy to blame tourists! Your officials to not protect tourist on the contrary they prey on them. I wonder what are they doing to their own people? When injustice is law rebellion is duty. What have u done of your soul! I can assure you if any member of my family died in a tubing accident, i will have the true owner of the platforms killed! Death to tyrants and their zealous slaves! >:( >:( >:(

Dear Saovaluck, I am extremely upset against the authorities because many of these death should have been avoided if they had done their job! In a republic, law and order should prevail. The diving attractions had proven extremely dangerous at the dry season which is actually at the same time the high touristic season. Most wounded and dead occurred after hitting an element of the riverbed. We all agrees that alcohol is also an aggravating factor.
Not closing this fair attractions or not properly running them is simply criminal! I urge the authorities to nationalize any pieces of land or already operating business suitable for a reasonably risky diving "thrill" and clean this sh*t for f*ck sake! It is not that difficult to reorganize the tubing activities on Vang Vieng and offer a safer environment to tubers. After having properly regulated those businesses, we can talk about taking responsibility for your actions! Officials through their representative by doing nothing are endangering people, it is crystal clear enough! What you want to do is your not entirely your choice, that is what a republic is for : law and order! In short my dear peoples operating platforms on Vang Vieng are serial murderer and should be in jail.
How long before a pool of embassies drag in court some of this businesses for their responsibility? The sooner, the better! You are missing the point; what is at stake in Vang Vieng is far more important than you think! Here lies one of the battle that Laos cannot afford to loose. Pretty difficult to take seriously a country that want to be developed but cannot fix what is after all a total non sense! What is doing the ministry of tourism?

It can be avoided if people follow the advice regarding water ghosts.

Before visiting Vang Vang, people already know that Laos is a third world country and they know that the law and order is not up to scratch, and any extreme water activities can be dangerous.

There's nothing illegal about drinking alcohol or leaping into a river in Laos. These people are thrill seekers and they could easily have an accident or die elsewhere.

In the old days, Vang Vieng never had tubing. The businesses are operated by the Thais coming into Laos from what I've been told.

Accident happen. Have fun and be safe people :)

Water sports and alcohol do no mix. Drinking alcohol while tubing,
swimming or entering the water in Vang Vieng can be dangerous.

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The river in Vang Vieng can be very shallow during the dry season.
Jump in that and you're history.

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A female tourist clowning around in a tyre tube in Vang Vieng, Laos.

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Group of tourists relax in front of a wood fire in Vang Vieng, Laos.

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Group of tourists relax in front of a wood fire in Vang Vieng, Laos.

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Safety regulations won't stop stupidity.

What Lao need to do is built a hospital near there and charge outrageous fees.  :D

Or maybe have a bulletin board posted of all the lives claimed ... kind of like this thread lol   ::)

If they followed your last suggestion, it will be bad for their business.

I guess people don't understand, this is not like USA, Australia, or Europe. This is Laos, and money is the law. No one's going to babysit you here, there is a price for stupidity and people are learning that the hard way. You can put all the laws and warnings you want but people will still be stupid, it happens all over the world, not just in Vang Vieng. People still drink and drive even though it's against the law and people still get killed because of it. People who are complaining about Vang Vieng should stop being hypocrites and look at the developed countries that they live in and take a look at all the "accidents" that still happen. If you have never been to Vang Vieng then I suggest you go there and see for yourself. It's just like any place, play at your own risk. I've seen people overdose on drugs in many countries, I've seen them drown also cause alcohol was involved. There ain't no difference from Vang Vieng. In my opinion, the reason why these people act stupid here is cause they think they are in a country that has no laws so they think they can do anything they want and forget about common sense. I do feel sorry for their families of the people that lost their lives in Vang Vieng, but let's not try to ruin the place due to a few people and their bad decisions. That would be like saying let's not drive cars anymore cause it's not safe due to all the accidents that happen.

Use some common sense and enjoy!

Vang Vieng have more tubing-related deaths than anywhere else in the world, maybe it's because other countries don't allow tubing of this nature so foreigners rush over to Laos.

Tubing is one of the popular tourist attractions in Vang Vieng, especially for western tourists. They tend to enjoy it more than a typical Asian tourist in Laos.

Different strokes for different folks!