Infection blamed in death of Russian model

A Shanghai agency representing a 14-year-old Russian model said on Monday that she died from multiple organ failure caused by pyemia, a type of blood poisoning, rather than overwork during her two-month stay in China.

Vlada Dzuba's death at Shanghai Ruijin Hospital on Friday had nothing to do with exhaustion or overwork, as suggested by some reports, according to Shanghai Esee Model Management, one of China's largest modeling agencies.

"We feel deeply grieved that we lost an angel. But her death was caused by bacterial infection, and it was a very rare disease," said Zheng Yi, president of the agency, which has around 30 foreign models, of whom Dzuba was the youngest.