SYDNEY (Reuter) - Rescue workers from Australia`s Thredbo landslide tragedy received more than just thanks when they attended a government awards ceremony - many fell ill from suspected food poisoning. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported on Thursday that New South Wales state health officials were investigating claims that dozens, and possibly hundreds, of the 1,600 people who attended last Sunday`s buffet luncheon had fallen ill. Among those affected was Col O`Neill, the State Emergency Services (SES) deputy site manager at Thredbo the day that sole survivor Stuart Diver was pulled from the wreckage of the landslide which killed 18 people including Diver`s wife. "One guy had his wife and children at the function and I took my daughter," O`Neill told the newspaper. "There was only one person from our group who didn`t get sick ... we think we know what it was that caused the problem." SES director-general Major-General Hori Howard said that 34 volunteers from one regional brigade had fallen ill afer the ceremony, with symptoms including diarrhoea and stomach cramps. A Health Department spokesman said it knew of only 13 people who were affected and had contacted the function`s caterers to inspect their facilities. Rescuers worked non-stop for over three days to pick through the debris of two ski lodges flattened by a landslide which roared through the popular Australian ski resort on the night of July 30.