Preah Vihear: On January 23, 2021, at 5:00 pm, there were 4 cases of poisoning after some sort of beetle larvae were taken from a palm tree and fried with rice. The snack caused the death of one person in Sen Kong village, Chamroeun commune, Sangkum Thmei district, Preah Vihear province.
The four victims were Mao Lean, male, 28 years old (died), Poy Vin, male, 28 years old, Dim Sophea, male, 15 years old, Prach Pisey, male, aged 9.
Before the incident, the four victims were seen cutting a palm tree in a palm tree and found about 1 kg of the larvae (*not sure what species, but it’s likely the men thought they were Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), which they fried and ate with rice. About two hours later, the four of them suddenly felt sick and suffered diarrhea. At that time, Poy Vin, Prach Pisey and Lim Sopheap mixed lemon juice with hot water to drink. The other man, Mao Lean did not drink like the others, and at 2:00 pm on January 24, 2021, he was brought to Chamroeun Health Center, but had already died on the way.
The cause of death was given as poisoning from eating the larvae (*whether they were a poisonous species, or had been tainted with another substance, such as pesticides is unclear). POST NEWS
