Farmer poisons kids, leaving two dead in Hunan
( 2003-11-13 20:41) (Xinhua)
A farmer in Central China's Hunan province
purposely gave poisoned food to elementary school kids on Thursday, leaving two
of them dead and 25 others hospitalized, local police said.
Wei Entan, from Nanjiang town of Pingjiang county, attempted to commit
suicide by drinking a bottle of highly toxic fluid he had prepared at his
capture less than four hours after the poisoning. The farmer fainted with the
poisoning and he was immediately sent to a local hospital, according to the
police.
On Thursday morning, Wei, riding a motorcycle, went to the Daxing and Simei
elementary schools that were in vicinity of Pingjiang county. He gave poisoned
popcorn and citrus to Yu Yuanfang, a fifth grader of the Daxing School, and to
Yu Xueling, a second grader of the Simei School, and told them to share with
fellow pupils, the police said.
After they ate the poisonous food, 27 kids immediately fell sick and were
sent to the hospital. However, Yu Yuanfang and Xu Dujiang, from Simei School,
died on the way to the hospital.
The farmer escaped on a long-distance bus but was stopped halfway by the
police. He is now being treated in the hospital and police said his motivation
for the poisoning was not yet known.
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