Society

5 pupils attempt group suicide in NW China

By Gao Qihui (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-07-05 15:16

Five pupils attempted to commit suicide by drinking herbicide in an old temple of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, hsw.cn reported.

Four of them are left-behind children in rural areas, whose fathers or parents have gone to cities for work.

The five 6th-grade pupils in Xinglin town, Fufeng county of Shaanxi province, made an appointment to go to the temple for a group suicide on the morning of July 3 after they made the agreement the previous night. They mixed the herbicide with a beverage which made the poison less potent. They were found in time by a passing villager.

The kids were immediately sent to the hospital after being found. Two of them who drank a half bottle of the poison were treated and believed to be out of danger, and the other three who drank less were fine without any treatment.

The authorities have initiated an investigation, but the reason for the suicide attempt is still unknown.