Laos authorities have charged the owner of a distillery whose methanol-laced alcohol killed six travelers in November 2024, officials said Friday.

Foreign officials suggested the owner could face up to four years in prison, if convicted, after the victims’ families were devastated by the possibility of a lesser penalty.

DFAT has told the parents of the teens who died after a mass methanol poisoning incident that Lao authorities were unlikely to lay down severe charges.