Benguet village water supply contaminated

LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET—Health officials were examining water tanks serving the vegetable-producing town of Atok in Benguet province, after 56 villagers were taken to a hospital here complaining of stomachache and vomiting.

Some residents of the village of Pasdong blamed their sickness on the chicken they ate in a feast on Jan. 1.

But Nora Ruiz, Benguet provincial health officer, said it was the water used in cooking the chicken that was contaminated.

Tests, she said, were made on water in a tank of the community church, which draws water from a creek. The villagers were discharged from hospital on Jan. 8. —KIMBERLIE QUITASOL