Poisoned schoolchildren out of danger in south China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-02 23:45

GUILIN, Guangxi -- More than 60 children who fell ill in a suspected deliberate poisoning at a south China primary school are all out of danger and stable, say doctors.

"The children are all out of danger and are recovering well," said a doctor with the People's Hospital of Guanyang County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,where the incident happened.

Zou Xin, vice head of the county government, said the children were possibly poisoned with organic phosphorus, a pesticide widely used by local farmers.

The children, all at the boarding school at Dengjia Village, Xinjie Town, suffered stomachaches, headaches and nausea after drinking the water provided by a public water supplier at the school dining room on Tuesday morning.

Thirty-four students were hospitalized and the rest were under observation at school.

Luckily, some of the school children did not drink the water, said a teacher.

Police found the water of the school's storage tank smelled of pesticide and had an ivory-white substance floating in it. An empty Coke bottle, which is suspected of containing the poison, was found by the tank.

The water supply has resumed in the school later on Tuesday after the tank was disinfected.

The county health bureau sent water samples and the liquid contained in the Coke bottle for examination in Guilin City and the result was expected in one or two days, said Zou.

An investigation into the incident is still underway. The county education department has accused the school of mismanagement.