Eleven female students in northwest China's Shaanxi Province have been confirmed dead of carbon monoxide poisoning, a provincial government official said on Tuesday.

The official, who declined to be identified, said 12 students were poisoned on Monday night when they used a charcoal heater to warm their dormitory room at the Duiziliang School in Yulin City.

The poisoned students were discovered at about 7 a.m. on Tuesday and rushed to a hospital, but 11 died.

The survivor was still being treated at the Dingbian County Hospital and was in stable condition, a doctor with the hospital said.

All the girls, about 10 years old, were in the fourth grade, a teacher who asked for anonymity told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

The teacher said a dormitory room usually held 12 students. Heaters and charcoal were provided by the school.

The province's vice governor Zhu Jingzhi, along with officials of the provincial educational and health departments, went to the school to investigate the case.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2008)