Up to 133 teachers and students at a middle school in Central China's Hubei Province were hospitalized, eating poisoned breakfast at the school's cafeteria on May 7, the Guangzhou Evening News reported.
At about 8:00 am, about half an hour after having their breakfast, the teachers and students of Grade Three in the province's ZhongYang Middle School, began vomiting, with most of them having dizziness. Those seriously poisoned began bleeding, the paper said.
The local clinic doctors rushed to the school to give the poisoned emergency treatment. About two dozens of students were released after treatment, and more than 100 were later taken to urban Jingmen NO.1, NO.2 and NO.3 hospitals for further check-up.
Now, most of the hospitalized are in stable condition, but still 20 remain unconscious, needing further observation and care, said a doctor with the Jinmen NO.1 Hospital.
Initial investigation found out the steamed bread and porridge they had for the breakfast were containing ingredients of "DuShuQiang", a kind of man-made poison to kill rats. But it remains unknown why the food was poisoned, the paper said.
Local police is investigating the cause of the incident.
(chinadaily.com.cn 05/08/2001)
