11 dead after drinking tainted rice wine in SW Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: JULY 4 – Eleven villagers had subsequently died in southwest Cambodia’s Kampot province after consuming home-brewed rice wine, which was suspicious of containing high levels of methanol, officials said on Sunday.

The incident happened in a village in Kampong Trach district’s Svaytong Khangtboung commune when the victims drank the tainted rice wine at the funeral of one of their neighbors on Friday, said Svaytong Khangtboung commune’s police chief Chha Kong.

“Eleven people were confirmed dead and 10 others have been hospitalized after drinking the adulterated wine,” he told Xinhua over the telephone. “All rice wine distilleries and stalls in the district have been temporarily closed to prevent more deaths.”

Kong added that the toxic wine samples have been taken for lab testing in capital Phnom Penh and the results are not yet available.

Nha Bunthan, chief of the Kampot provincial health department, confirmed the poisoning incident, but could not give further details as his officials were working on that.

Rice wine is popular in rural areas in Southeast Asian country due to its cheap price.

According to the health ministry, in May, methanol-laced rice wine claimed 31 lives in three separate incidents in Kandal, Kampot, and Pursat provinces.

-XINHUA