Ronan Kelly
Retired 2020
Undetermined cause sickens 84 Cambodians
(philstar.com) Updated July 06, 2011 05:02 PM
PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) ? At least 84 Cambodians were hospitalized on Wednesday in the country's southwest province of Kampot, but the cause has yet to be determined, a district governor said.
Khim Horn, governor of Chhouk District, located about 145 km southwest of Phnom Penh said among those hospitalized, there are three children who all got dizzy, diarrhea, voted and fainted since Tuesday afternoon.
He said it remains unclear the cause of the incident, but some put a blame on lack of sanitation, while others suggesting contaminated water.
Other sources, however, said the villagers suffered health problem after they had drunk and consumed water that is contaminated by substance of grass killer or commonly known as chemicals.
They said those who were hospitalized were working in a concession-land farm invested by a local Cambodian company as well as those living nearby the farm where chemical was used to kill grass before planting sprouted beans and cassavas.
The farm is located in Chhouk District in Kampot province.
Khim Horn, however, admitted that the water consumed by villagers has been taken to Phnom Penh to examine its substance whether is really harmful to human live.
According to Khim Horn, those hospitalized are not in critical condition, and many of them have been recovered and are ready to return home now.
Cambodia is an agrarian country with some 80 percent of the country's 14 million populations are farmers and some farmers are using the chemicals to kill insects and grass or in order to increase their products but failed to follow the rule and consume them with over doze in volume.
According to a report of the Ministry of Agriculture, there were 759 kinds of chemicals imported from Vietnam and Thailand in 2009.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=703333&publicationSubCategoryId=200
(philstar.com) Updated July 06, 2011 05:02 PM
PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) ? At least 84 Cambodians were hospitalized on Wednesday in the country's southwest province of Kampot, but the cause has yet to be determined, a district governor said.
Khim Horn, governor of Chhouk District, located about 145 km southwest of Phnom Penh said among those hospitalized, there are three children who all got dizzy, diarrhea, voted and fainted since Tuesday afternoon.
He said it remains unclear the cause of the incident, but some put a blame on lack of sanitation, while others suggesting contaminated water.
Other sources, however, said the villagers suffered health problem after they had drunk and consumed water that is contaminated by substance of grass killer or commonly known as chemicals.
They said those who were hospitalized were working in a concession-land farm invested by a local Cambodian company as well as those living nearby the farm where chemical was used to kill grass before planting sprouted beans and cassavas.
The farm is located in Chhouk District in Kampot province.
Khim Horn, however, admitted that the water consumed by villagers has been taken to Phnom Penh to examine its substance whether is really harmful to human live.
According to Khim Horn, those hospitalized are not in critical condition, and many of them have been recovered and are ready to return home now.
Cambodia is an agrarian country with some 80 percent of the country's 14 million populations are farmers and some farmers are using the chemicals to kill insects and grass or in order to increase their products but failed to follow the rule and consume them with over doze in volume.
According to a report of the Ministry of Agriculture, there were 759 kinds of chemicals imported from Vietnam and Thailand in 2009.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=703333&publicationSubCategoryId=200