Children ill after water poisoned in China school

BEIJING - MORE than 60 children fell ill after drinking water that may have been deliberately poisoned at a primary school in southern China, state media reported.

Thirty-four were still in hospital, suffering from headaches and nausea, and the rest were under observation at their rural school in Guangxi province after drinking the water in their school canteen, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

The water in the school's storage tank smelled of pesticide and police found an empty bottle that they suspected of containing the poison, Xinhua said.

While the investigation is continuing, local education officials have already accused the school of mismanagement, it added.

Scandals involving substandard food or medicines are reported regularly by Chinese media and schools have been involved before.

A primary school headmistress was jailed last year for taking kickbacks from an unlicensed food company that indirectly led to nearly 200 children falling ill. In a separate case last year, a college student was arrested on suspicion of poisoning his classmates' water.

Food and drug safety in China has grabbed global attention over the past year after its products sparked scares abroad, from substandard pet feed in the United States to allegedly tainted dumplings in Japan. -- REUTERS