Two men died and nine others were seemingly poisoned yesterday after a funeral ceremony at a pagoda in Takeo province, police said.

The culprit, said Tram Kak district police chief Nhem Seoun, was black coffee.

According to Seoun, Ang Metry pagoda employees Choub Tek, 80, and layman Tob Nob, 75, died following a meal that included coffee provided by an unident-ified Cambodian-American, who also fell ill.

“The victims started to vomit, feel dizzy and get headaches after they drank coffee together when they finished their lunch in the funeral ceremony in the pagoda,” said Seoun. “They got a big package of coffee from a Cambodian-American and three small packages that came from somewhere unknown.”

Seoun noted, however, that police had not definitively concluded that the coffee was to blame, as the lunch included “many foods, such as fish, vegetables and nuts” to be tested.

He added that all those affected were receiving treatment at the Ang Rokar hospital.

To contact the reporter on this story: Khoun Leakhana at [email protected]