CHENGDU: A boy in Guang'an, Sichuan Province, who had drunk enough pesticide to kill some 500 children last week died as a result of poisoning, not because of poor medical care, according to the results of an investigation by the Guang'an city government and Sichuan University's Huaxi Hospital.

The investigation came after local people had surrounded Guang'an No 2 People's Hospital, which had cared for the boy, following accusations from the boy's family that medical staff there had not done enough to save his life.

Guang'an Vice-Mayor Yuan Xianfeng announced the report's findings in a telephone interview with China Daily Monday.

The fatal accident occurred last Tuesday after Xiong Zerong picked up his 4-year-old grandson, Xiong Honghui, from kindergarten at about 4:40 pm. Before going to the school, Xiong had purchased a bottle of pesticide to apply to some wheat seeds. The joint investigation later showed that the pesticide was strong enough to kill 500 children.

"After he returned home, Xiong Zerong left the pesticide in a corner and went off to do farm work. Because the pesticide was in a soft drink bottle, the grandson mistook it for a beverage and drank it," Yuan said.

When the grandfather returned from the fields, he was struck by a strong smell of pesticide and found his grandson foaming at the mouth. The boy was rushed to the hospital at 6:30 pm.

"Medics at Guang'an No 2 People's Hospital immediately pumped the boy's stomach and gave him a drip, but he died an hour later because he had drunk too much pesticide," the vice- mayor said.

The grandfather signed the death certificate at the hospital, indicating that he had recognized the medics' efforts to save his grandson, before returning home.

"But the next day, the grandfather and other members of his family placed wreathes in front of the hospital and accused the hospital of failing to save the boy. Curious onlookers eventually came to see what had happened, until finally about 2,000 people surrounded the hospital," Yuan said.

"After an investigation team verified that the hospital in Guang'an had offered the boy proper treatment, the boy's relatives and all the onlookers left," he said.

The official confirmed Internet reports that several onlookers had tried to cross the police cordon that had been set up in front of the hospital.