More than 140 students were sent to the hospital with suspected food poisoning after eating a school dessert in Oddar Meanchey province, officials said on Thursday.
The students aged 9 to 13 developed stomach pains and began vomiting after eating a banana and tapioca dessert on Wednesday at the NGO-run DPC Tramporng School in Trapaing Prasat district’s Preah Brolay commune, said commune police chief Chea Nimol.
“We don’t really know what caused the poisoning, but we suspect it was caused by small-sized tapioca pearls,” Mr. Nimol said.
Commune police officers tasted the ingredients and reported feeling numb afterward, he said.
Police are now awaiting test results after a sample was sent to district police.
About 190 students had been attending afternoon sessions at the school at the time of the incident, Mr. Nimol said.
Chuch Sim, director of the Prasat Krohorm Senchey Health Center, said the center received 143 students before transferring about half of them to the state-run Anlong Veng Referral Hospital in Anlong Veng district, where some were admitted overnight.
