A total of 70 people fell ill after eating at a restaurant in the suburbs of Beijing Friday, police and health authorities said Saturday.

They suffered nausea and vomiting after finishing a 16-course lunch at the restaurant at Shuian Shanba, a holiday resort in the outer district of Huairou.

Most of the sick were treated at hospitals in Huairou and nine suffering the worst were sent to Chaoyang Hospital in downtown Beijing.

The nine, including a two-year-old boy and his parents, all had clonidine in their blood, a doctor in the hospital's emergency room said on condition of anonymity.

Clonidine is a drug for high blood pressure and is not used very widely in Beijing nowadays, the doctor said.

He assumed the victims' food was probably contaminated with clonidine,

as it was unlikely that dozens would suffer from an overdose of the drug at the same time any other way.

The patients all appeared clear-headed but were unwilling to talk Saturday. Many dismissed a Xinhua reporter's questions with "I'm tired and want to sleep."

Doctors said their conditions were stable.

The restaurant suspended operation Friday night and police launched an investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2010)