30 Nov 2011

Rugby player poisoned by drink

7:06 pm on 30 November 2011

An autopsy on a New Zealand rugby player who died while on tour in Bali shows he was killed by methanol poisoning.

Michael Denton died after a few casual drinks with his Perth-based Nedland's team-mates last September.

His brother, Greg Denton, told Checkpoint his brother reacted badly to one drink in particular and was accompanied to his room to lie down.

He was found unconscious less than an hour later.

Mr Denton says the culprit was a local drink known as arak and says methanol can be produced if the drink is not distilled properly.

He says travellers should be aware of the dangers of drinking anything containing methanol in Bali.