SHANGHAI, June 29 -- AN 11-year-old boy in Gansu Province who ate almonds he had mixed with a virulent poison and shared them with seven schoolmates on Wednesday afternoon has died along with a girl from his class, according to a local newspaper.

The boy identified as Qiangqiang and the other seven victims were Grade Three students in a village primary school in Tianshui in Gansu, Lanzhou Morning Post said.

Qiangqiang after lunch on Wednesday asked three of the victims to buy three bottles of rat poison from a village grocer, the report said, quoting police.

Qiangqiang mixed the rat poison with three kilograms of almonds and all eight of the schoolmates ate them, including himself.

Five children, including Qiangiang, were found lying in a vacant ground next to the school 10 minutes later by a passing teacher surnamed Qi.

"They looked to be in pain and were twitching," Qi said.

Three other poisoned children were found later, the report said, without elaborating.

Qiangqiang was among the five sent to the city's No. 2 People's Hospital. He was pronounced dead soon after admission.

The remaining group of victims was sent to the No. 1 People's Hospital where a girl died about 11pm after five hours of emergency treatment.

Five of the survivors are out of danger but a sixth is in a critical condition, doctors said.

"My daughter has woken up, but she looks wooden and has no answers to our questions," said a mother of one victim identified as Xiao Hong.

Police investigating the incident are looking into whether the victims ate the poisoned food by themselves or by force.

Qiangqiang's mother told the newspaper that her son acted normally that afternoon. "He finished lunch at home and then went to school as usual," she said.