CHINA: The owner of a snack shop in Nanjing in eastern China has been sentenced to death for killing 42 people by lacing a competitor's food with rat poison.
Chen Zhenping was sentenced by the Nanjing Number One Intermediate People's Court after a half-day trial.
"Under the law, he has 10 days to appeal the verdict. If he does not file an appeal, Jiangsu province's high court will review the verdict and then make a final decision on whether Chen will be executed," a court official said.
The sentencing follows one of China's worst public health disasters in recent years. Chen was arrested on September 14th, a day after hundreds of people fell ill from eating breakfast snacks bought from a shop in Tangshan township in Nanjing.
Chen, who owned another shop in Tangshan, reportedly confessed to the crime, saying he poisoned fried dough sticks, sesame cakes and glutinous rice prepared by the Zhengwu Pastry Bar because he was jealous of the shop's success.
So far 42 people have died, while more than 300 were affected to varying extents after eating the poison-laced breakfasts, the People's Daily website said. The poisoning caused appalling scenes in the city, with witnesses reporting victims collapsing on the streets bleeding from the mouth and ears.
Mass food poisonings are not infrequent in China and are commonly caused by low standards of hygiene and treatment of food. However, cases where rat poison is used deliberately are increasing, according to a state media report.
Nationwide, 100,000 people are poisoned each year, with 50,000 to 70,000 of them falling victim to rat poison, the report in the Health News said. - (AFP)