Nanjing poisoner executed A shopkeeper in eastern China who confessed to spiking a rival trader's food with rat poison, killing at least 42 people, has been executed. More than 300 customers fell ill after eating poisoned bread, cakes and rice balls at a fast food shop in Tangshan town in the city of Nanjing a month ago. Chen's own snack shop was not as successful as his competitor, according to state media, so he used powerful rat poison to lace the food at his competitor's store. Chen was put to death after the Higher People's Court of Jiangsu province upheld a previous death sentence meted out late last month, the China News Service reported. "The facts are clear, the evidence is reliable and ample, and the punishment is suitable," the court said. State media said on Monday that he had confessed to his crime. His victims - many of them schoolchildren - died after eating breakfast snacks such as dough sticks and rice balls from the tiny fast-food outlet, a branch of the Heshengyuan Soy Milk chain on Tangshan's main street. There were appalling scenes at the snack shop as people who ate the food there collapsed in violent convulsions, some bleeding from the eyes and mouth. Previous poisonings Mass poisonings are not uncommon in China, and although most are due to negligence, some have been deliberate. In August 2001, 120 people fell ill in a restaurant in Ningxiang, Hunan Province, after being poisoned by the owners of a noodle factory. And there have been several cases of poisoning in schools in recent years. Last January, also in Hunan, 92 primary schoolchildren fell ill after their lunch was poisoned. Rival blamed for China poisoning The Chinese authorities are reported to have arrested a shop owner who has confessed to poisoning a competitor's breakfast snacks, killing dozens of people. State television said the man was so jealous of his rival's success that he put rat poison in its fried dough sticks, sesame cakes and stick rice balls. At least 38 people in the town of Tangshan, near Nanjing in Jiangsu province, are believed to be dead - many of them reportedly schoolchildren. Dozens of others fell sick. Police are said to have arrested the shopkeeper, Cheng Zhengping, at Shangqiu, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north-west of Nanjing as he was attempting to flee by train. The deaths in Tangshan began on Saturday morning, when hundreds of people collapsed after eating breakfast snacks such as dough sticks and rice balls from the tiny fast-food outlet, a branch of the Heshengyuan Soy Milk chain on Tangshan's main street. Witnesses described how people began spitting blood and then collapsed after taking just a few mouthfuls of the snacks. Sensitive timing The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing says that initial reports appeared to have been censored, with references to the number of casualties removed. The Communist Party's major national congress is due to begin in just a few weeks and correspondents say the authorities are highly sensitive about any bad news ahead of it. Correspondents say mass poisonings are not uncommon in China, and although most are due to negligence, some have been deliberate. In August 2001, 120 people fell ill in a restaurant in Ningxiang, Hunan Province, after being poisoned by the owners of a noodle factory. And there have been several cases of poisoning in schools in recent years. Most recently, also in Hunan, 92 primary schoolchildren were stricken by poison in their lunch. Rat poison blamed for Chinese deaths The authorities in China say rat poison is the most likely cause of a mass outbreak of food poisoning that killed dozens of people in the east of the country. Officials are refusing to say exactly how many have died, but some estimates put the number at more than 100. The victims had all eaten breakfast food from the same restaurant in the small town of Tangshan, in Jiangsu province. Police are not saying whether they suspect deliberate poisoning, but a provincial government official quoted by the China Daily newspaper said the poison could have been put in the food on purpose. The restaurant's owner has been detained by police, and the premises closed. Initial reports in the state-controlled media said 41 people had died, including schoolchildren, but other estimates had the figure of more than 100. The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing says that since then reports appear to have been censored, with references to the number of casualties removed. Questioning The deaths in Tangshan began on Saturday morning, when hundreds of people collapsed after eating breakfast in a fast-food restaurant. Investigators have sealed off an alley near the restaurant, where its food was cooked at a stall. Victims had eaten breakfast snacks such as dough sticks and rice balls from the tiny fast-food outlet, a branch of the Heshengyuan Soy Milk chain on Tangshan's main street. Witnesses described how people began spitting blood and then collapsed after taking just a few mouthfuls of the snacks. Peng Yongqing, who owns a store next to the outlet, said he saw one elderly man collapse after eating breakfast from the outlet. "It happened right there in front of my store," he told Reuters news agency. "One minute he was sitting there eating and the next he stood up and keeled over. We all thought he was choking, we had no idea what was wrong." Mr Peng said the man had died on the way to hospital. Many of the victims were boarding school students at the Zuochang Middle School, which bought breakfast from the shop each day. Migrant construction workers were also among those affected. Sensitive time Correspondents say mass poisonings are not uncommon in China, and although most are due to negligence, some have been deliberate. In August 2001, 120 people fell ill in a restaurant in Ningxiang, Hunan Province, after being poisoned by the owners of a noodle factory. And there have been several cases of poisoning in schools in recent years. Most recently, also in Hunan, 92 primary schoolchildren were stricken by poison in their lunch. The Communist Party's major national congress is due to begin in just a few weeks' time and correspondents say the authorities are highly sensitive about any bad news ahead of it.

Many of the victims collapsed, spitting blood. Local hospitals were swamped by victims. Cheng Zhengping