China has executed two people for their role in a tainted milk scandal that sickened several thousand children across the country.

Zhang Yujun and Geng Jinping were executed on Tuesday for their involvement in the case that killed at least six children last year, Reuters reported.

Nineteen others, including executives and middlemen, were sentenced to prison terms.

The men were executed for the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means and producing and selling toxic food.

But the woman most widely blamed for the tragedy, former Sanlu Group general manager Tian Wenhua, received a sentence of life in prison.

Nearly 300,000 children fell ill last year after drinking milk intentionally laced with melamine, sold mainly by the now bankrupt Sanlu Group.

JR/HGL