Mysterious Lethal Illness Strikes Cambodia

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Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post

A mysterious illness responsible for the death of dozens of Cambodian children has remained unidentified since cases were first reported in April.

According to the World Health Organization and the Cambodian Health Ministry, the illness has taken the lives of 52 people and has sickened many others.

The disease is known to cause paralysis, brain swelling, neurological symptoms, severe respiratory distress leading to rapid shutdown, and death. In some cases, victims were described as having their lungs “burned.”

Most of the affected individuals were children under the age of 3.

Hundreds die in Cambodian stampede (VIDEO)

BBC

22 November 2010 Last updated at 15:14 ETHelp

At least 339 people have been killed in a stampede during festival celebrations in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, Prime Minister Hun Sen has said.

Huge crowds had gathered on a small island for the Water Festival, one of the main events in the Cambodian year.

The stampede took place on a bridge. An eyewitness told AP news agency the trouble began when 10 people fell unconscious in the crowd.

The BBC's Mike Woodridge says it is a "tragedy on a rapidly growing scale".

The tragedy occurred during the high point of the Water Festival

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• In pictures: Cambodia's deadly stampede

At least 339 people been killed in a stampede during festival celebrations in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, Prime Minister Hun Sen has said.

Huge crowds had gathered on a small island for the final day of the Water Festival, one of the main events of the year in Cambodia.

The stampede took place on a bridge, which eyewitnesses said had become overcrowded.

Hundreds more people were injured in the crush.

Hun Sen described the stampede as the "biggest tragedy" to hit Cambodia since the mass killings carried out by the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

He said he had ordered an investigation.

The authorities had estimated that more than two million people would attend the three-day festival.

Panic broke out after a concert on Diamond Island, which followed a boat race on the Tonle Sap river regarded as a highlight of the festivities.

Sean Ngu, an Australian who was visiting family and friends in Cambodia, told the BBC too many people had been on the bridge.

People at both ends were pushing, he said, causing those in the middle to fall to the ground and then get crushed.

The bridge became jammed with people, some crushed under foot and others falling into the water.

Witnesses spoke of bodies littering the area.

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