Nearly 100 garment workers employed by the New Wide garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district have fainted since Tuesday evening after company representatives’ allegedly sprayed insecticide throughout the factory, a local official and a worker said.

Workers are likely fainting from the potent combination of pesticide fumes and poor ventilation, according to district governor Hem Darith.

“About 50 fainted on Tuesday evening and [more than 37] Wednesday morning,” Darith said, adding that the sick had been sent to recover at the Visak Sok and Independence clinics.

“We smelled the chemicals the factory sprayed to kill insects and then we felt weak and dizzy,” So Chan, a 26-year-old factory worker, said.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, about 61 workers employed at a garment factory owned by Shenzhou International, located in the same district, allegedly fell ill after eating a factory-funded Khmer New Year feast.

Officials from neither factory could not be reached.