Two men have died and one remains in critical condition in Koh Kong province’s Kiri Sakor district after mistaking a poisonous fish for a non-poisonous species, said authorities yesterday.

Prek Khsach commune chief Lunh Khon said that brothers Hon Lay, 17, Soth Pon Lok, 20, and Yi Chhouen, 20, had cooked and consumed some of their catch while fishing on Friday.

“They supposed it was horseshoe crab fish, which they usually ate, but it was the poisonous trochor fish.

My officials sent them to hospital immediately, but two of them died on the way. We tried our best, but could save only one,” he said.

The mother of the victims, Lai, 32, said her sons had been fishing late into the night and had been at a spot far from the nearest hospital.

“It is such a long way from the hospital. We are sorry to lose them,” she said.