Hundreds of workers of a Korean-invested company in the southern Vietnamese province of An Giang have been hospitalized for the second time following food poisoning last weekend.

The patients, who are employed by An Giang SAMHO, a South Korean-invested shoe manufacturer in Hoa Binh Industrial Park in Chau Thanh District, were re-admitted to a local general hospital on Monday, with symptoms including nausea, headaches and dizziness.

Due to the large number of patients, the workers have had to share their beds or even lie on the floor for intravenous therapy and treatment.

According to Nguyen Thi Oanh, director of the infirmary, the first victims were brought to the hospital at around 8:00 am.

That number rose rapidly between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm on the same day with many more patients displaying similar symptoms, Oanh said, adding that she was unable to recall the exact number of patients.

Patients with milder conditions were asked to give their beds up to those with more severe symptoms. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Thi Kim Em said that she and her colleagues were initially admitted to the hospital for food poisoning on Saturday last week, and many were discharged later the same day.

“We began to experience the symptoms for the second time on Monday morning. Our employer only allowed us to go to the hospital once several people had fainted,” Em recalled.

Tu Quoc Tuan, director of the An Giang Department of Health, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the workers have begun bringing their own food since the poisoning incident last weekend.

The mass food poisoning first began on Saturday with over 600 workers from An Giang SAMHO hospitalized after having lunch at their workplace.

All patients were discharged from the infirmary by Sunday evening.

The cooking facility in Long Xuyen City, An Giang, which supplied food to the company’s employees, later had its operation suspended by police so they could carry out their investigation.

Patients are treated at the infirmary for food poisoning. Photo: Tuoi Tre   

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