PHNOM PENH, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) — Some 87 Cambodians have fallen ill after eating tainted traditional noodle soup at a party in southern Takeo province, a local police official confirmed on Tuesday.

"Eighty-seven villagers, including 57 females, got dizzy, stomach ache, diarrhea, and vomiting after they had eaten noodle soup at a party in their village on Monday afternoon," Cheng Chantra, deputy police chief of Tramkok district, where the incident took place, told Xinhua.

He said the victims had been sent to hospital for medical treatment and most of them had recovered.

According to Chantra, it is unclear what the cause of the mass food poisoning is as the noodle soup samples have been sent to the health department for testing.

Checks on food are rare in the Southeast Asian country, where safety regulations are lax.

In December, rice wine brewed with "high levels of methanol" killed 19 people and sickened 172 others in eastern Kratie province.