British woman died 'after drinking poisoned gin' on holiday in Indonesia

Cheznye Emmons, in a picture from her Facebook page

A British woman has died after reportedly drinking poisoned alcohol during a trek in the Indonesian jungle.

The woman, named in reports as Cheznye Emmons, is said to have fallen ill after drinking from a bottle labelled "gin" bought from a local shop.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We can confirm the death of a British national in Indonesia and we are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time."

Reports said the 23-year-old beauty therapist from Great Wakering in Essex died last month.

Two other travellers also had health problems after consuming the drink, which turned out to be filled with methanol, which is poisonous and causes kidney failure, blindness, seizures and death.

The reports said that within days of drinking the methanol Ms Emmons complained that she had lost her sight. She went through the jungle to the nearest eye clinic, and was referred to a hospital in Sumatra, where she was placed in an induced coma.

Her parents flew to her bedside and made the decision to turn off her life support machine.

Indonesia has an alcohol tax of more than 200 per cent on some products, which leads locals to brew their own home-made spirits. Methanol is a by-product of poor distillation techniques.