Seven people who were allegedly drugged by an unnamed man from South Korea in a Beijing hotel on Wednesday are now out of danger.

The six women and one man, aged between 25 and 45, from northeast China's Jilin Province, became ill in the Huiqiao Hotel, in Chaoyang District.

Police reported that they had been persuaded by the man to take some unidentified drug, which caused them to fall unconscious.

The seven were part of a group of 11 ethnic Koreans who reportedly came to Beijing from Yanji, Jilin, because the suspect had promised to help eight of them get jobs with the South Korean company Samsung Electronics. They had planned to fly to South Korea on Thursday.

The Beijing Times quoted Zheng Meihua, one of the group, as saying that the eight had reached an agreement with the South Korean that each of them would give him 75,000 yuan (US$9,000).

At noon on Wednesday, they had lunch with the man, who persuaded them to take some oral liquid drug. He said it would help prevent them catching a fever on their journey. If they became feverish, South Korean immigration officials might refuse them entry as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) suspects, he told them.

After taking the drugs, seven of the eight began to feel ill and fell unconscious. The eighth was able to summon help and detain the South Korean man until police arrived.

All the victims and the suspect were sent to the China-Japan Friendship Hospital near the hotel.

Police believe that robbery was the motive for the poisoning. The drug is now being analyzed to identify it and determine its precise effects.

(China Daily August 6, 2004)