The manager of a food shop in Tangshan, near Nanjing, was questioned as the authorities investigated a major outbreak of food poisoning in the small industrial city. Locals said most of the 38 people who died were schoolchildren and migrant workers who had eaten from the same breakfast snack shop.
Chinese media carried only brief reports of the incident, but one newspaper quoted a local government official as saying that rat poison had been found in the food. It blamed the tragedy on a competitor jealous of the outlet's success.