BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Two Cambodian children in a refugee camp in eastern
Thailand died after eating food distributed to them by a United Nations relief agency,
a doctor said on Dec. 11.
More than 100 Cambodians at the Site 2 refugee camp, most of them children, suffered
from diarrhea Dec. 10 after eating canned fish distributed to them by the United
Nations border relief hospital in the border province of Prachinburi, 95 kilometers
(59 miles) east of Bangkok.
A spokesman for an international relief agency, speaking on condition of anonymity,
confirmed that the refugees had been struck ill by suspected food poisoning, and
said 20 had been hospitalized.
He said the two dead children, aged five and six, may have had the effects of food
poisoning exacerbated by the administration of traditional Cambodian medicine. The
two were the only victims who were found to have suffered neurological problems,
he said.
The U.N. organization has sought to take back unused containers of the canned fish,
but many were sold to nearby markets by the refugees. Samples of the suspect food
have been sent to Bangkok for testing.
The relief agency official said the canned fish had been purchased from local suppliers.
