Two students have died of food poisoning while 28 others were hospitalized in northwest China's Gansu Province, local government officials said on Tuesday.

The two students, who suffered from vomiting and stomachache after eating dinner in Qingcheng Middle School at around 6:00 p.m. Monday, were rushed to hospital. However, attempts failed to save their lives, said officials with the Qingcheng county government and the local education bureau. No names or ages of the students involved were available at time of publication.

The county government sent more than 300 students in the school to hospital for medical examination on Monday evening, among whom 38 were diagnosed with poisoning.

Ten students have been discharged from hospital as of 5 a.m. Tuesday and the other 28 were kept in hospital for observation.

Investigation into the cause of the poisoning is under way.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2008)