Ninety-two students at a primary school in southwest China's Sichuan Province are thought to have developed food poisoning on Sunday, among whom 23 have been hospitalized, confirmed a local official.

The pupils, all from the Cangxi County's  Pengdian Central Primary School, have developed symptoms of fever, headache, stomachache and diarrhea, with some suffering from nausea and vomiting, according to Huang Tingquan, vice head of the county, who noted that the test result shall come out tomorrow.

The 23 hospitalized students are in stable condition, but will receive medical treatment for several days, said local sources.

The first case was reported on Thursday afternoon and no similar cases were reported outside the school. The Pengdian Central Primary School is located in the mountainous area 90 kilometers away from the county government. Among all its 780 students, 621 live on campus, including the 92 ill.

The Cangxi government has installed a daily case reporting system, given all other students and staff preventive medicine and ordered a thorough disinfection of the school's dining hall.

Earlier this week, food poisoning killed one girl and afflicted another 459 students in the Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang, Shaanxi and Hubei.

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2006)