Over 100 People in Central Vietnam Suffer Food Poisoning, Linked to Formosa

Hundreds of Vietnamese holiday-makers have been suffered food poisoning in Vietnam’s central coastal region where sea water has been polluted by a huge volume of toxic waste discharged by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant, state media has reported. On July 10-11, 119 staffs of the Hanoi-based Century Group were hospitalized after taking seafood in a restaurant in the central city of Nha Trang. On July 19, 70 workers of a delegation of 800 people of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Saigon Food were taken to hospital for urgent treatment after eating seafood in a party held in Phan Thiet city in the central province of Binh Thuan. Authorities in the two localities said the cause for the mass food poisoning is the bacterial contamination of food, however, many people believe that the incidents were closely linked to the water pollution of heavy chemicals discharged by the Taiwanese Formosa. Vietnam’s state agencies and newspapers have encouraged people to go to the central coastal region for holiday taking, ensuring them that the seafood and water are safe. Since early April, hundreds of tons of fish died in the four central coastal provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. Fish death at smaller scale has also recognized in other localities, including Danang City and Binh Thuan. (congly.com.vn July 19, vov.vn July 19)