Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has halted the band’s Sydney concert to pay tribute to Melbourne teens Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, the victims of suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos.

The band was performing the first of its shows at Sydney’s Olympic Park when they briefly halted to speak to the audience, just hours after Jones’ family confirmed the 19-year-old had died in a Bangkok hospital.

Vedder spoke of the “senseless” tragedy, which has also claimed four other lives.

“The one young woman Bianca Jones, she’s passed, and her friend Holly Bowles is hanging on, and we wish her the best, and we are thinking about her parents,” he said.

Worried his good wishes would appear empty, he added: “It can’t be empty if there’s 50,000 of us. We are sending you everything we got your way. So sorry.”

Jones’s death on Thursday came after she had spent a week on life support, her stricken family by her side.

Bowles, her best friend, continues to fight for life in a separate Thai hospital.

The two 19-year-olds, from Beaumaris in Melbourne’s south-east, had been holidaying in Laos when they became ill, along with a dozen other tourists in the tourist town of Vang Vieng last week.

They were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel, drinking free local vodka before going out to the Jaidee Bar on November 11.

Hostel manager Duong Duc Toan said the Australian women joined more than 100 other guests for the free shots, offered by the hostel as a gesture of hospitality.

Bianca Jones died on Thursday and Holly Bowles remains critically ill. Photos: Facebook

On returning from their night out, neither Jones nor Bowles left their hostel room for a day. Staff eventually learned they were ill, and they were ferried – one by one – to a local hospital by motorbike, before being transferred to Thai hospitals.

Thai authorities have since confirmed Jones died of “brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system”.

The apparent mass poisoning outbreak has also claimed the lives of two Danish teenagers, a 56-year-old American and, in the latest confirmed fatality, 28-year-old British lawyer Simone White.

Simone White was among a dozen backpackers taken to hospital after drinking the free shots suspected to have been laced with methanol.

Her friend Bethany Clarke has urged tourists in the region to avoid local spirits.

“Just avoid them as so not worth it,” she wrote in a Laos backpacking Facebook group.

“Six of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning.”

One New Zealand citizen is among those who are ill, and could be a victim of methanol poisoning, New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry said.

“Travellers are advised to be cautious about consuming alcoholic beverages, particularly cocktails and drinks made with spirits that may have been adulterated with harmful substances,” it said.

Several foreign nationals in Laos have been victims of suspected cases of methanol poisoning through consuming alcoholic drinks. Be alert to the potential risks of spirit based drinks including cocktails. For further advice see:https://t.co/pIE08JgYknhttps://t.co/F2eRlt2Ecw

— Smartraveller (@Smartraveller) November 19, 2024

The Australian government has updated its travel advice for Laos, telling residents to be alert to the potential risk of spirit-based drinks including cocktails.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said drink-spiking and methanol poisoning were “far too common in many parts of the world”.

“At this time I would say to parents, to young people, please have a conversation about risks, please inform yourselves, please let’s work together to ensure this tragedy does not happen again,” she said.

Consular assistance is being provided to the Jones and Bowles families.

-with AAP