School principle fired over food poisoning

A schoolmaster has been sacked after more than 300 students in a primary school in southwestern Yunnan Province suffered food poisoning last Thursday, the People's Daily reported today.

Other school employees responsibly for the poisoning case were also punished as were two officials at the Zhenxiong Town Education Bureau.

The Dingla Primary School had a new canteen that was on trial operation when 368 students felt sick after having lunch on Thursday and were sent to a hospital for treatment.

An investigation showed that the canteen operator had no qualification certificate, nor could he provide a record of food suppliers.

After medical treatment, 342 students left the hospital on the same day; 26 remained in the hospital but were in stable condition.