HAVANA (Reuters) -- Fourteen people died of food poisoning and more
                  than 70 others were treated at a hospital after they ate fried foods sold by a
                  private vendor in western Cuba, health authorities said on Sunday.

                  A Health Ministry statement quoted by the state media said 14 adults had
                  died since late on Saturday in the food poisoning outbreak, believed to be
                  one of the worst in Cuba in recent years.

                  Of the more than 70 people who became ill after eating the fried foods, 49
                  were still recovering in the hospital, including six children. Most of those in
                  the hospital were in serious condition.

                  All of the people affected were from the small town of Manguito, near
                  Calimete, in the province of Matanzas. They had apparently eaten products
                  sold by a private vendor, who was among those who died.

                  The victims suffered nausea, respiratory failure and a feeling of weakness in
                  the legs.

                  Health authorities said the origin of the poisoning appeared to be chemical,
                  but an investigation was under way to determine the precise cause.

                  Cuba's communist government authorised a series of self-employed trades
                  and services in the mid-1990s as part of economic reforms. Since then,
                  hundreds of private food preparers and vendors, some of them operating as
                  home restaurants and cafes, have appeared around the island.

                  Authorities have been waging a campaign to crack down on those operating
                  without a license and have also been trying to carry out public health checks
                  on their products.

                   Copyright 1999 Reuters.