Rice wine brewed with a toxic level of alcohol has killed at least 19 people and left 172 more in hospital in northeast Cambodia, the health ministry said on Sunday.
“Laboratory tests found the deaths were caused by the high methanol level in the wine,” Ly Sovann, a spokesman for the health ministry said. Local authorities in Kratie province, where residents have been falling ill since November 19 after drinking the tainted alcohol, have ordered all local brewers and rice wine sellers to close temporarily. Tests carried out by the Ministry of Health have found that some of the wine involved in at least five separate incidents contained up to 12 per cent methanol -- the usual level is around 0.15 per cent. Local media reported that some of the 172 people hospitalised had suffered vomiting and dizziness.
Authorities are investigating the incidents, the Ministry of Health said on Sunday in a statement, but no arrests have been made so far. Health Minister Mam Bunheng said in the statement that people should immediately stop drinking rice or herbal wine that had been produced without proper inspection or permits from authorities. The ministry said it was working with international partners including the WHO.