Some 570 Cambodians fall ill after eating contaminated snacks

Approximately 570 Cambodian people, mostly children, in northwestern Cambodia's Siem Reap province got sick after eating bread filled with meat and vegetables on Saturday afternoon, a provincial health chief confirmed.

The incident took place at Chhi Kreng district when NGO World Vision hosted an event for school children and distributed loaves of bread filled with meat and vegetables to each of participants, said Kros Sarath, chief of Siem Reap Provincial Health Department.

"About 570 people, most of them were children, got dizzy and vomited after eating the contaminated bread," he told Xinhua over telephone. "According to a preliminary conclusion, it was suspected that the vegetables, especially cucumbers, which were put in the bread, were contaminated with insecticide as a result of failure to properly clean."

He said the provincial health staff arrived at the scene soon after the incident and provided on-site intravenous injections to those ill-fated people.

"No one is in serious condition, and about 30 percent of them have recovered and returned home," he said.

Checks on food are rare in Cambodia, where safety regulations are lax.

In January, about 25 school children in southern Cambodia's Takeo province got sick after eating fried rice at a food stall near the school, and in October last year, around 283 people, mostly children and females, suffered diarrhea and vomiting after having traditional noodle soup at an engagement party in central Kampong Thom province. Endi