International News

PHNOM PENH, (MILLAT+APP/AFP): Home-brewed toxic rice wine is believed
to have killed 10 people and hospitalised 50 others from a Cambodian
village in recent weeks, officials said Thursday.
Residents started falling ill after drinking the traditional sprit at
a series of funerals in a village in central Kampong Chhnang province, according to the director of the local hospital.
“From (late) November until now, 10 people have died and around 50
have come here to get treatment,” said Sorin Ravuthy.
The ceremonial drink is a staple at Cambodian festivals, funerals and
weddings.
But it can be deadly if brewed improperly with methanol.
The province’s deputy police chief Ly Virak said authorities believed
tainted wine was responsible for the recent wave of deaths.
“Yes, it was rice wine poisoning, but we have not yet received all
the details,” he told AFP.
Deaths from bad batches of rice wine — which is cheap and often
locally brewed — are fairly common in Cambodia, a poor country with lax health and safety standards.
One year ago at least 19 people were killed and 200 hospitalised in
northeast Cambodia after drinking wine with toxic levels of methanol.