Mass fainting occurs at garment factory in northwestern Cambodia

At least 50 garment workers at the M&V manufacturing factory in Kampong Chhnang province got fainted and were admitted to hospitals on Wednesday due to overwork and exhaustion, officials said.

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A Free Trade Union representative at the factory Noun Sam Ol said that the mass fainting happened because they had worked overtime without taking a rest and on holidays, they had also worked on their rice fields.

She added that insufficient eating was one of the factors of the mass collapse, adding that the fainted workers had been sent to the provincial hospital soon after the incident.

Hospital director Sorin Tiravuthy said that they were not in serious conditions, they just got tired and weak because of insufficient eating and overwork.

They have been allowed to return home after being provided medical treatment.

Mass fainting has subsequently occurred in Cambodian garment factories. Last year, more than 1,500 Cambodian workers in garment and shoe factories have fainted due mainly to overwork, poor health, exposure to chemical substances, and hysteria, according to the report of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

The garment industry is Cambodia's largest income earner. Currently, the sector consists of more than 300 factories, employing some 335,400 workers - 91 percent of them are female, according to the Commerce Ministry.

During the first six months of this year, the country exported garment and textile products in equivalent to 2.1 billion US dollars, up 9 percent if compared with the same period last year, the Commerce Ministry said.