A case of mass fainting on Monday saw 115 workers pass out at the Starite (Cambodia) Co factory in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district, where the facility has been operating for less than a year.

A member of staff at the factory said the faintings had been attributed to a substance used in the production of furniture at a nearby site.

Sewing team leader Long Sok Leab at Starite said an administration manager had told him that a strange smell was coming from a building next to the factory, where they “use a substance to spray onto wooden furniture”.

Sok Leab said he did not know what caused the fainting, but he said he himself passed out not long after coming to the assistance of co-workers after they fell unconscious.

“When I started to help the other workers, I started to feel dizzy and weak, with a headache, and then I also fainted,” he said.

Sok Leab said he had worked at the factory for over four months and that this was the first time that many workers had fainted.

He said there are 1,000 workers at the factory, which produces bags for the U&O brand and is Chinese owned.