Two Lao workers die from suspected chemical use at Chinese-owned banana farm
Two Lao workers at a Chinese banana plantation in Borikhamxay province in central Laos have died in recent weeks, and coworkers believe the deaths were caused by chemicals used on the farm while authorities say they succumbed to natural causes, Lao sources say.
Banana farming for the Chinese market is a major source of employment in rural Laos, with hundreds of hectares of planted land employing Lao villagers and other workers in nurseries, planting, and harvesting, researchers say.
But illnesses and deaths have long been reported among Lao workers exposed to chemicals on foreign-owned banana farms.