In October 2002, Huang, 29, opened a kindergarten in Wuchuan City of Guangdong but his business soon failed owing to bad management. However, Huang blamed his loss on competition from a neighboring kindergarten.

He sneaked into the kitchen of the rival kindergarten on the evening of Nov. 24 and placed rat poison in table salt. The next morning, the poisoned salt was put into porridge.

Two kindergarten teachers and 70 children fell seriously ill after eating the porridge and were rushed to a nearby hospital. All of them recovered later.

The children and teachers were found to have been poisoned by "Dushuqiang," a highly toxic rat poison.

Huang was sentenced to death by the Zhanjiang Intermediate People's Court on Dec. 17, 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2003)