A newly married teen died after eating toad on Monday afternoon in Tbong Khmum province, according to local authorities.

Yu Touch, a police officer in Dambe district’s Seda commune, said that Toeng Porng, 18, died after eating a meal of fried “red” toad.

Her husband and two brothers became violently sick, but have survived, he said.

Deputy district police chief Orng Sokheng said that authorities’ initial conclusion is that the family must have failed to clean the toads properly and had accidentally eaten their highly poisonous eggs.

“The toad meat is not the problem, but its eggs are very poisonous, and it can poison whoever eats it and kill them. I believe that people already know about this,” Sokheng explained.

Rom Ra, Porng’s husband, said that he had eaten the same type of toad numerous times without any problem.

He said that although he knew the eggs were poisonous, they must have mistakenly included them in Monday’s meal.

“The toad meat is more delicious than frog meat,” he said.

Asian common toads, which are found in Cambodia and can be red in colour, are toxic to humans and known to cause illness and death. Scientists believe this is one reason that the species has few predators.