The grieving parents of Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones have welcomed news of arrests in Laos as they returned to Australia with their daughters’ bodies.

Laos media report that eight people — identified as hotel staff and management from the Nana Backpackers in Van Vieng — had been detained.

The eight men from Vang Vieng are aged between 23 and 47 years old, according to Laos media outlet Laophattana News.

The ABC reported one of the eight was a bartender at the hostel.

Landing in Melbourne on Tuesday evening, dads Mark Jones and Shaun Bowles told media they hoped for a breakthrough in the investigation.

“We want to grieve. We miss our daughters desperately,” Jones said.

“I was happy to hear that there’s been some movement over in Laos.

“I would continue to urge the Laos government to continue to pursue whomever.”

The families touched down at Melbourne Airport with the remains of their beloved 19-year-olds who died from suspected methanol poisoning on their holiday.

It has been reported that a third Australian had fallen ill and was in a stable condition, recovering in hospital.

As investigations continue, a backpacker grieving two of the Danish tourists who died in the suspected mass methanol poisoning started his own probe into the tragedy.

The man, who wanted to remain anonymous, began a survey soon after his friends Anne-Sofie Coyman, 20, and Freja Sorensen, 21, died in a Laos hospital last week.

The incident also claimed the lives of Briton Simone White and American James Louis Hutson.

The European man, who is still travelling in Asia, has given the ABC the results of his survey of more than 20 tourists he met who had recently been to Vang Vieng, the town at the centre of the poisonings.

He asked if they or any of their friends had to seek hospital treatment for suspected poisoning while in the town. Fourteen of those who replied said yes, with all but one saying they or the people they knew who had fallen ill had stayed at the Nana backpacker hostel.

In addition, British woman Lucy Davison wrote on social media last week that she had five days in a Vientiane hospital after being poisoned around the same time.

Like most of the survey respondents, she attributed it to spirits consumed at Nana, without naming the hostel.

In one account in the European traveller’s survey, a woman alleges hostel staff wouldn’t call an ambulance for Coyman and Sorensen, even when one of them had a seizure.

Instead, a female worker allegedly massaged her toes and feet, saying that it was only a panic attack.

“I’m saving her, don’t worry,” she reportedly said.

The dying woman eventually got to the local hospital in a taxi. According to the same statement, the other Danish woman made her own way to hospital.

The families of Bianca Jones (left) and Holly Bowles are expected to bring their bodies home soon. Photos: Facebook

The hostel, which was shut by local police last week, is at the centre of the poisoning investigation. Bowles and Jones were among dozens of tourists who reportedly drank free shots of local vodka there before a night out in Vang Vieng, only to fall desperately ill the next day.

Jones and Bowles were evacuated to Thailand and died in separate Bangkok hospitals last week, after their parents raced to be by their bedsides.

The other four tourists also died from the contaminated drinks.

A New Zealand citizen who was among those poisoned has left Laos and returned home, according to the country’s embassy in Bangkok.

Nana operators have vehemently denied their drinks contained methanol. The hostel’s bartender and owner were questioned by Laos police last week, although no details have been released.

Another venue implicated in the poisonings, Jaidee bar, was searched by police last week. Its owner was also questioned, and has denied to the ABC any responsibility in the poisonings.

The information came as the Australian Federal Police offered to help the Laos investigation into the multiple deaths.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government had made it clear to Laos officials its expectation the investigation to be thorough and transparent.

“They were best friends in the best days of their lives,” Albanese told Parliament of Jones and Bowles on Monday.

“There is no crueller arithmetic than adding up the years not lived, the potential not fulfilled, the dreams not lived or that might have been.”

Friends of the teens from Beaumaris, in Melbourne’s south-east, have adorned their suburb with blue and yellow ribbons in their memory as loved ones call for funds to bring their remains back to Australia.

Their families want to raise awareness about methanol poisoning and have started a GoFundMe in memory of their daughters.

It had raised nearly $290,000 as of Tuesday afternoon, well above its initial $250,000 target. In an update, the “overwhelmed” families said they had doubled the target.

“Thanks to your incredible support, we’ve not only made significant progress towards our initial goal and also realised the potential to expand our efforts even further,” they wrote.

“To honour Bianca and Holly’s memory and amplify our mission to raise awareness about the dangers of methanol poisoning, we are increasing the campaign goal from $250,000 to $500,000.

“Every dollar raised will go towards making a lasting impact and ensuring that their story saves lives. We’re so grateful for your support and hope you’ll continue to stand with us as we work towards this larger goal.”

The fundraiser’s main objectives are to relieve financial burdens for the families, support existing initiatives and fund awareness campaigns.

Former home affairs minister Clare O’Neil said there were plans to assist the families as they prepared to return home.

“DFAT is working with the two families here and I know we will be doing everything we can as a government to support them,” she told ABC radio.

“Both in the grieving that they need to do here and in the work they’re trying to do to get some of the problems they see that have occurred overseas addressed.”

Jones’ father said his daughter was on the trip of a lifetime and wanted to explore the world to meet new friends.

“Her life had just begun,” Mark Jones said in Bangkok on Saturday.

“We’ll forever miss our beautiful girl and hope her loss of life has not been in vain.”

-with AAP