Sixty-four students were poisoned after eating lunch at their middle school in Zaoyang City, central China's Hubei Province, Thursday.

All the ill students were taken to hospital and were in stable condition.

According to local sources, the 64 students started to vomit and suffer stomachache after lunch. So far, all the 64 students are in stable condition.

According to the preliminary findings, the source may have been the rice they ate, but further investigation is still underway.

(Xinhua News Agency November 7, 2003)