An 11-year-old boy mixed apricots with rat poison and invited his
schoolmates to eat, killing himself and a girl and leaving seven
others ill in northwest
China's Gansu
Province, local police said on Friday.
Two children have been discharged from hospital while the five
others were still in hospital out of life threat, local hospital
sources said.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon in a village
primary school of Tianshui city. The girl who died was 11 years
old, while the seven ill pupils -- five girls and two boys -- were
aged from 7 to 11.
The nine children were rushed to hospital after being found by a
teacher lying on the ground outside the school gate, but the boy
surnamed Qi who poisoned himself and others died before reaching
hospital.
Qi's death made it difficult to know why he had poisoned the
apricots. Local police and education officials are
investigating.
(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2007)