A college student from the China University of Mining and Technology in Jiangsu Province is arrested on suspicion of lacing water drunk by three classmates with highly toxic Thallium...

 

Vengeful Student Poisons 3 Classmates

Local police in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province arrested a college student yesterday on suspicion of lacing water drunk by three classmates with highly toxic Thallium, the Nanjing-based Modern Express reported today.

On June 1, three students, all freshmen from the China University of Mining and Technology's Xuhai College (CUMT), were hospitalized after feeling nauseous and vomiting. They had all dined the day before with a classmate in the university's canteen.

Treatment at several hospitals proved inconclusive with initial diagnosis attributing the illness to lime disease or arthritis. As their condition worsened, on June 8, the students were transferred to larger cities. One was moved to Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei, while two others flew to Beijing for treatment.

On June 10, the China Center for Disease Prevention and Control identified a poisonous substance, thallium, as being present in their samples.

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Chemical Plant Sold Toxic Thallium to Student

The college student who poisoned 3 classmates with thallium nitrate revealed that he purchased the poison from a chemical plant in Sichuan Province, Jiangsu police revealed yesterday.

The student, surnamed Chang, a freshman at the China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT) based in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, was arrested by local police on June 12. He confessed to purchasing 250 grams of thallium nitrate via the Internet from a plant in Sichuan on May 22. On May 29, he injected around 2 ml of thallium into each drinking cup of three classmates. In the evening, the three students fell gravely ill after drinking water from the poisoned cups. The rest of the thallium was recovered from Chang's classroom after his arrest.

CUMT Vice President Wang Jianping had good news to give at a press conference yesterday, saying, "All the students are in stable condition and recovering well and will leave hospital in a few weeks."

Wang Jianping, vice president of China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT) based in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, on Wednesday afternoon briefed the press on the poisoning case. (photo from the campus website)

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Repentant Student Apologizes for Thallium Poisoning

The student who poisoned three classmates with toxic thallium nitrate expressed his deep regrets for the crime and profusely apologized to his victims, Xuzhou police said yesterday.

Chang, a student at the China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT), in Xuzhou City of Jiangsu Province, was arrested on June 12. He soon confessed to having carried out the premeditated poisoning. At first, he planned to use mercury but veered towards thallium after hearing of a girl poisoned by the compound at Tsinghua University with no culprit found after 12 years. He decided to use thallium instead of mercury since "people know little about this substance," Xuzhou police said citing Chang's confession.

He purchased 250 grams of thallium nitrate online from a chemical plant in southwest China's Sichuan Province on May 22, costing 2 yuan per gram. He then laced the drinking cups of three classmates with around 2ml of thallium.

The three students, one in a hospital in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province, and another two in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, are all reported to be in stable condition. The Beijing Morning Post revealed that the two students in Beijing received acupuncture treatment yesterday, to help their body functions to recover.

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(Chinaorg.cn June 2007)