Teacher detained in kindergarten poisoning

A suspect has been detained for poisoning children in a kindergarten in central China’s Henan Province, making 23 fall ill, police said on Monday.

The suspect was identified as a teacher surnamed Wang at Mengmeng preschool kindergarten in Jiaozuo City. Wang was alleged to have purposefully put sodium nitrite in children’s food on March 27, according to the police statement on its official Weibo account.

Among the sickened children, one is in a critical condition, seven remain in hospital and the others have been discharged, police said.

Police are investigating Wang's motive.

A parent told The Beijing News that the poisoned children came from one class. She said her 4-year-old daughter had her stomach pumped at the hospital after she kept vomiting, sometimes with blood. She was discharged three days later, The Beijing News reported.

An official from the education authority of Jiaozuo District claimed the teacher brought sodium nitrite to the kindergarten and dropped it into rice porridge, the report said.

Sodium nitrite is a chemical compound used as a food additive in processed meats and fish products. It can be toxic and lethal in high amounts.