Kitchen employee arrested for putting pesticide into school meals

A representative of the People's Procuracy of Son La on Tuesday said police of Mai Son District had arrested the female kitchen staff of the Chu Van Thinh High School for harming another person.

The representative said the woman was the wife of a former headmaster of the school, who is now working in a different school. Authorities are also analyzing the food samples suspected to have been contaminated as part of the investigation.

On September 22, the People’s Committee of Chieng Ban Commune received reports from the school that the students’ food smelled like pesticide. When authorities came to check, they discovered that the food sample did smell of pesticide.

As the incident was detected early, none of the students had consumed the food, authorities said.

The school has over 1,200 students, and over 400 of them have lunch at school.