Tainted wine kills 14 people at Cambodian ceremony

Published November 17, 2014

Fourteen people have died from drinking wine tainted with weed killer at a ceremony where the Cambodian villagers were appealing to spirits to protect children.

Twenty people still were hospitalized Monday.

Police in the eastern province of Kampong Cham said the victims drank locally produced rice wine from a bottle that had previously contained toxic herbicide. They are still investigating but believe the poisoning was accidental.

Provincial police chief Nuon Samin said people felt weak soon after drinking the wine at the ceremony Saturday. Nine died soon after, and five more on Sunday and Monday, even though doctors rushed to the village.

The community is 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of the capital Phnom Penh.

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