Police nab man suspected of poisoning boy

A screenshot from Beijing Television. [Photo/Official Weibo of People's Daily]

Police in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan province have arrested a male suspect allegedly involved in injecting mercury into a five-year-old boy, The Beijing News reported on Tuesday.

Police haven't revealed details of the case as it involves a minor.

Severe mercury poisoning found in 5-year-old boy

The boy identified by the alias Qi Qi developed ulceration of the skin and a high fever in January. Checks in February at First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University showed the mercury concentration in his blood was 200 times the normal standard, and the concentration in his urine was 10,000 times higher than the standard.

He received treatment in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, then tried Guangzhou and Shenzhen hospitals in South China's Guangdong province, and then The 307 Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army in Beijing, for better treatment. He was discharged from the Beijing hospital in May with what doctors said was an irretrievable one percent of mercury left in his body.

A toxicologist at The 307 Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army said such a large amount of mercury must have been injected into the boy's body.

The boy attended a Kunming primary school as a first grader this summer, and is now in good health. The hospital will continue monitoring the mercury residue's effect on his health.