At least 10 banana farm workers have died over the last two weeks at a Ratanakiri plantation, according to the provincial governor, who said police are investigating whether the deaths were caused by chemicals used on bananas.

Ratanakiri governor Nhem Sam Oeurn told CamboJA on Thursday that provincial authorities were investigating 10 deaths since June 16 at a Vietnamese-run Thagrico banana plantation in the province’s Kon Mom district.

“From a preliminary conclusion, we assume that it might be caused by chemical substances or food poisoning but not from infectious diseases,” Sam Oeurn said. “We are still not sure.”

He directed further queries to the provincial hospital. Ung Ratana, director of the Ratanakiri provincial hospital, could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Ratanakiri provincial police chief Ung Sopheap said police officials were still investigating the case.

“Now we are doing more research because some people are sick and some are still being treated at the hospital,” he said. “We are working to confirm if there is some other reason.”

Other provincial officials were not forthcoming with more information about the deaths. Yin Youth, a district administrator in Kon Mom, said he could not confirm the number of deaths but had seen people die “one after the other.” 

Kon Mom district police chief Phork Borith could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

CamboJA reported in 2021 on serious allegations of workers falling sick at the Thagrico banana plantation, with many suspecting it was because of the chemicals they sprayed on the fruit. Workers complained of dizziness, stomach issues and headaches. 

Workers also said they were heavily indebted with microfinance loans and that there was widespread use of underage labor at the plantation.

(Additional Reporting by Pok Ponlue)

Update: A previous version of this article misstated the name of the Vietnamese company. It is THACO-AGRI, not Thagrico.