BEIJING ~ A breakfast of porridge laced with rat poison killed a 77-year-old patient and left more than 200 other people ill at a major Chinese hospital, state media reported.

The elderly woman who died had been admitted to the hospital in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on Friday suffering from heart problems but was instead killed by her toxic breakfast on Monday, the Xinhua news agency said.

The 202 other victims, who included patients, doctors and nurses, were in stable condition suffering nausea and diarrhea after eating the porridge at the hospital canteen, Xinhua said, citing local health authorities.