Chinese Billionaire Dies from Eating Poisoned Cat Meat Hotpot

Chinese police detained a Communist Party official for allegedly murdering a local business tycoon by poisoning a cat meat hotpot. The businessman died in Yangchun City in China's southern province of Guangdong.

The director of Yangchun agricultural office, Huang Guang, is accused of putting a poisonous herb—gelsemium elegans—in the hotpot dish.

Chinese businessman Long Liyuan, together with Huang Guang and Huang Wen, ate the cat meat hotpot at a local restaurant.

Long's daughter said the herb was not put in the soup by someone from the restaurant.

[Long Liyuan's Daughter]:
"It wasn't raw. It was cooked. He was behaving differently to normal.”

Long ate more of the stew and died—while the other two men survived. Huang Wen said he didn’t eat much.

[Huang Wen, Businessman]:
"When I ate it I thought that the soup was a little bitter… I thought perhaps sometimes they didn't clean the cat properly, or it contained cat liver."

His sharp sensitivity to taste had saved him.

[Liu Shichuan, Medical Doctor]:
"When Huang Wen came his symptoms were less extreme, but he had some paralysis in his throat.”

Hotpot is a popular Chinese dish of meat and vegetable stew. Cats and other animals are often eaten in the southern provinces of China.