Three killed by suspected food poisoning after party in northern Vietnam

By Pham Du   October 3, 2017 | 09:08 pm PT
Three killed by suspected food poisoning after party in northern Vietnam
Ha Giang's Vi Xuyen District (in red), where three men died of poisoning on Tuesday.
Dozens fall sick after eating home-cooked pork dishes and drinking rice wine.

Three people in the northern province of Ha Giang have died from suspected food poisoning after attending an engagement party held by neighbors.

Food safety officials said they have yet to ascertain the cause of death, but the most probable explanation is the food and drink served at the party on Sunday.

A family from Vi Xuyen District near the Chinese border, around 300 kilometers (180 miles) north of Hanoi, had invited 66 guests to their celebrate their son’s engagement, and served home-cooked dishes including stir-fried pork, papaya soup and rice wine.

A total of 66 people attended the party, but dozens fell sick suffering from nausea, stomachache and vomiting shortly after.

Three men aged 42, 47 and 59 died in hospital on Tuesday.

Mass food poisonings are not uncommon in Vietnam and occur mostly in factory and school canteens, but the list of victims also includes guests at big parties in rural areas.

In August, 183 guests at a wedding party in the central province of Ninh Thuan were rushed to hospital with food poisoning.

More than 50 wedding guests suffered the same problem in Ha Giang in February, the same month that eight people died of poisoning after drinking wine at a funeral wake in the nearby Lai Chau Province.

Official figures showed that 73 cases of food poisoning killed 16 people and affected nearly 1,600 others in the first half of this year in Vietnam.

 
 
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