Sources with the municipal government told CRI that most of the fatalities were children; two soldiers were also among the dead. The authorities have yet to announce an official death toll.

Initial investigations in Nanjing point to a commonly used rat poison as the most likely cause of the incident on Saturday, which has caused an undetermined number of deaths.

Zhou Qiang, an information official with the Jiangsu provincial government, says the poison could have been deliberately put into the food by someone. Public security authorities are still looking into the case. Police were questioning the manager of a company that supplied food to the shop.

On Saturday morning, over 200 people -- largely students and migrant workers -- were poisoned after eating fried dough sticks, sesame cakes and glutinous rice in a restaurant in Tangshan Town. The victims are reported to be in a stable condition.

Local hospitals began treating the sick immediately after the accident occurred. The provincial and municipal governments demanded that every effort be made to save the victims.

(China Daily September 17, 2002)