One person died and 42 others were hospitalized in a suspected food poisoning case at a hotel in southwest China's Sichuan Province Friday, local authorities said Saturday.

The victims, mostly tourists and hotel staff, suffered vomiting and nausea after eating breakfast at Pearl Garden Hotel in Luding County of the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze, the local tourism administration said in a press release.

They were sent to the People's Hospital in Luding County for treatment at around 8:00 AM, it said.

A 47-year-old woman from Guangzhou died in hospital Friday.

As of Saturday morning, 42 were still in hospital and 12 of the cases were serious.

Among the patients were 33 tourists, eight hotel staff and a child of a hotel employee.

Experts with the Sichuan provincial disease control and prevention center suspected nitrite poisoning, as their lab tests had shown the noodles served Friday morning in the hotel were tainted by nitrite.

An investigation has been launched.

The hotel is near the Hailuogou (Conch Gully) National Glaciers Park, a major tourist attraction at least 300 km from the provincial capital Chengdu.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2010)