Local police in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province on June 12 arrested a college
student on suspicion of lacing water drunk by three classmates with
highly toxic Thallium, the Nanjing-based Modern Express
reported today.
On June 1, three students, all freshmen from the China
University of Mining and Technology's Xuhai College (CUMT), were
hospitalized after feeling nauseous and vomiting. They had all
dined the day before with a classmate in the university's
canteen.
Treatment at several hospitals proved inconclusive with initial
diagnosis attributing the illness to lime disease or arthritis. As
their condition worsened, on June 8, the students were transferred
to larger cities. One was moved to Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei, while two others flew to Beijing for
treatment.
On June 10, the China Center for Disease Prevention and Control
identified a poisonous substance, thallium, as being present in
their samples.
The student in Hebei remains in?stable condition?but
his family refused to speak with the media. The other two at
Beijing Chaoyang Hospital are recovering well but are still
suffering from liver failure, according to a statement from the
hospital. Urine tests revealed the thallium level in their bodies
was 1,000 times higher than normal. However, this has been reduced
to about 100 times after a week of treatment. "It will take at
least two months to recover," said Hao Fengtong, director of
Occupational Disease Department of the hospital.
The suspect surnamed Chang, was detained by local police on June
12, whereupon he admitted the crime. Chang said "We used to be
friends before, but because of some trifling matters we fell out
and after that they always ignored me and hid from me." Feeling
angry, Chang decided to poison his classmates but the police did
not reveal how he obtained the poison or how he made the other
three ingest it.
In a national trade standard on public security, thallium
compounds and cyanide are both classified as Grade A toxic items.
The use of thallium in university labs is also strictly
regulated.
?
According to Zhu Baoli, deputy-director of Jiangsu's Provincial
Center for Disease Prevention and Control, the purchase and use of
thallium need a supply certificate approved by several departments
including the public security department. This is Jiangsu's first
instance of thallium poisoning, a very rare occurrence in
China.
Zhu said experts from the center analyzed samples collected from
the students' dormitory and dining rooms. High thallium content was
found in their drinking cups.
The police investigation is still ongoing with the Mayor of
Xuzhou expected to brief the press this afternoon.
In December 1994 and March 1995, a student from Tsinghua
University twice ingested a lethal dose of Thallium salt. She fell
into a coma for several days but was finally declared to be out of
danger in May 1995. However, the consequences were very severe
since her organism was severely damaged and that she had contracted
hepatitis C during a blood transfusion. Now, the 34-year-old is
almost entirely paralyzed, has lost the power of speech and relies
on her elderly parents for care. It remains unproven whether this
case was an instance of intentional poisoning.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Zhang Yunxing, June 20,
2007)
