Six pupils of a boarding school in north China's Shanxi Province died suddenly on Monday, with the cause still under investigation, Chinese media reported today.

The victims, aged between six and 10, were students of a primary school in Nanyao Village, Pucheng Town, Puxian County of the province, which has 11 students in two grades, said Shanxi Evening Post.

The children, two boys and four girls, were sent to the hospital at 9:40pm on Monday night after they were found dying in the dormitory at 8:30pm. "They all died before they arrived to the hospital," said a chief nurse, surnamed He, in the people's hospital of the county.

Vomit found at the scene has been sent to the food and drug inspection authorities in Beijing and Taiyuan, capital city of the province, for further tests to determine the cause of their sudden deaths.

School teachers on duty found the students when they noticed their dorm room lights were still on after 8:30pm, said the report.

"Dinner begins at 6pm and students are required to go to bed before 8:30 PM," a Nanyao's villager told the newspaper. "They sometimes buy snacks or food at the small grocery outside the school," he added.

The six were boarding in the school as they came from the neighboring Niuyao and Dijiahe villages. The other five students have been sent to a nearby school.

The case will be transferred to the local public security bureau if the test results show the possibility of murder, said Huang Dengyu, a senior official with the provincial food and drug administration.

(Shanghai Daily December 6, 2006)