The FCDO confirmed that it was in touch with local authorities and offering support to Orla’s family at “this hugely difficult time”.
Orla had been travelling around South East Asia before starting a degree at Durham University, Viet Nam News said.
Her mother, Henrietta Wates, told the news site: “Orla was beautiful, independent and very funny, with a sharp wit.
“She loved to look good and lived life to the full.”
Thanking the hospital for caring for Orla, she said: “We chose to donate Orla’s organs, as we believe that if there were a way to give opportunity to others, this is what Orla would have wanted.
“Knowing that she is living on through them brings us great comfort.”
Viet Nam News reported, external that organ donations had been made to “five critically ill Vietnamese patients” at the hospital.
A hospital representative said: “In the face of profound grief, her family made a deeply compassionate decision that transcended nationality and race – to donate her organs, giving others a chance at life…
“One journey has come to an end, but her life continues quietly and resiliently in others who have been given a second chance.”
Orla’s father, Andrew Wates, told the hospital his daughter had loved Vietnam and so to give back to the South East Asian nation was “very important” to his family.