Nearly 50 children and more than a dozen adults were rushed to hospital with food poisoning after cooks failed to wash pesticide out of food storage containers at a wedding party in Oddar Meanchey province on Monday, local officials said yesterday.

Samrong town police governor Noun Eth said 67 villagers – including 49 children – became sick after eating food prepared for the party.

“I went down immediately when it was reported that a lot of villagers had been poisoned. They were vomiting and had  diarrhoea after eating the food cooked by villagers,” he said.

The cooks had used metal tubs to keep meat and vegetables that were not washed adequately after previously being used to hold pesticide for cassava trees, he added.

“We found the cause of poisoning to be careless hygiene because the tubs used to keep food for the wedding guests were not cleaned properly.”

Although the sick were attended to quickly and were able to return home after treatment, authorities would now educate villagers about the dangers of poor food hygiene, he said.