Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
This is the moment a factory worker is filmed allegedly lacing his colleague’s water with a potential fatal toxic chemical after they had a row about working hours.
CCTV footage from the factory in the town of Shantian, which is in Ningbo City in China’s eastern Zhejiang Province, shows the guilty workman Mr Mei sneaking through the company canteen.
The video dated 17th July shows Mr Mei stopping at his coworker Mr Yang’s table at 5:35am local time and paying particular attention to his bottle of drinking water.
Pictures Credit: AsiaWIire
He can be seen opening the lid of the water before pouring in what police say was the colourless chemical toluene, which he collected from a container on the side of the canteen.
Authorities with the Shantian Police Station were called to the factory after Mr Yang took a sip of the water and smelled the pungent substance, which is used in the production of foams and certain solvents.
Despite having not seen any security footage, Mr Yang told police he believed his colleague had spiked his drinking water and was trying to harm him.
The pair had reportedly been disagreeing over work duties and hours, resulting in Mr Mei holding a grudge against Mr Yang.
Mr Yang’s suspicions were proven true when authorities inspected the CCTV footage and caught Mr Mei pouring toluene into the bottle.
According to reports, toluene exposure at moderate levels can lead to confusion, weakless, as well as loss of hearing and colour vision.
At high levels, however, toluene can cause nausea, unconsciousness, and even death.
Mr Mei was given 10 days of detention for causing intentional harm to another.
He has also been fined 200 RMB (23 GBP).
The police said he could be jailed for between three to 10 years if found to have caused serious long-term damage to his victim.
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