Fifty-nine children, aged four to six, have been hospitalized with suspected food poisoning after eating school-prepared meals in northwest China's Gansu Province.

Children at the No. 1 Kindergarten in Wuwei city began to suffer vomiting, fever and stomachaches on Wednesday morning and dozens showed similar symptoms in the afternoon, said a spokesman with the city government.

By 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, more than 100 children had received medical checks at the People's Hospital in Wuwei.

Hospital sources suspected 59 of the cases were food poisoning.

Management of the kindergarten refused to comment. One teacher said the children had porridge and buns for breakfast on Wednesday.

Local health workers said no food was seemingly left for lab tests, and they had sent the school's dishes to a lab of the city's disease prevention and control center, fearing the incident was caused by inadequate sterilization.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2007)