Vinegar contaminated with anti-freeze was suspected of causing the deaths of 11 people who ate an evening feast during the ongoing Ramadan holiday in a Muslim area of China.

Local police told state media that vinegar stored in two plastic barrels that had previously contained anti-freeze was thought to be the cause of mass poisoning after about 150 people ate together on Friday evening in a remote village in Pishan county in the western region of Xinjiang.

Investigations were continuing and toxicity tests had still not confirmed the source of the poisoning, the official Xinhua news agency quoted a police statement as saying.

The statement said about 120 people were poisoned with one person still in critical condition by Monday.