Mercury poisoning case proves lover's revenge
By Echo Wang |
March 17, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
POLICE have detained two people over a mercury poisoning case wrongly blamed on Coca-Cola.
A woman surnamed Liu was dining with Ma Sai last November in Beijing when she poured mercury she procured from a broken thermometer into his Sprite drink, Beijing Morning Post quoted police as saying.
Liu, 28 and married, was a coworker with Ma and was having an affair with him.
Liu told police that she knew mercury could not kill people but was a health hazard.
Ma vomited after drinking the mercury and was taken to hospital where Liu confessed to him.
Ma said he did not tell police the truth because he did not want to incriminate Liu. The poisoning case was thus blamed on Coca-Cola.
It took police four months to crack Ma and Liu. Beijing lawyer Ying Fuqiang said Ma would be charged with harboring a criminal.
Chen Yi, a public relations official with the Coca-Cola Co said the police investigation proved that mercury could not have been added to the cans in the production system.
The company issued a statement after the incident was reported, ruling out contamination at its Beijing plant. The firm said it believed a third party had "maliciously" added the mercury after the canning process.
Coca-Cola paid Ma 20,000 yuan (US$2,930) to cover medical bills.
Beijing police said the case of a second victim of mercury in a can of Sprite was still being investigated.
A 13-year-old boy, Wang Cheng, who fell ill on January 17 this year, had to be suspended from school for six months because he was so sick from ingesting the drink.
A woman surnamed Liu was dining with Ma Sai last November in Beijing when she poured mercury she procured from a broken thermometer into his Sprite drink, Beijing Morning Post quoted police as saying.
Liu, 28 and married, was a coworker with Ma and was having an affair with him.
Liu told police that she knew mercury could not kill people but was a health hazard.
Ma vomited after drinking the mercury and was taken to hospital where Liu confessed to him.
Ma said he did not tell police the truth because he did not want to incriminate Liu. The poisoning case was thus blamed on Coca-Cola.
It took police four months to crack Ma and Liu. Beijing lawyer Ying Fuqiang said Ma would be charged with harboring a criminal.
Chen Yi, a public relations official with the Coca-Cola Co said the police investigation proved that mercury could not have been added to the cans in the production system.
The company issued a statement after the incident was reported, ruling out contamination at its Beijing plant. The firm said it believed a third party had "maliciously" added the mercury after the canning process.
Coca-Cola paid Ma 20,000 yuan (US$2,930) to cover medical bills.
Beijing police said the case of a second victim of mercury in a can of Sprite was still being investigated.
A 13-year-old boy, Wang Cheng, who fell ill on January 17 this year, had to be suspended from school for six months because he was so sick from ingesting the drink.
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