Updated

Chinese authorities are investigating allegations that children attending a kindergarten in Beijing run by a U.S.-listed company have been abused and molested.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Education said Friday it would inspect kindergartens in the Chinese capital, a day after the reports drew widespread attention.

The influential newsmagazine Caixin and other Chinese media outlets quoted horrified parents saying their children were molested, forced to strip as punishment, found with unexplained needle marks on their bodies and made to take unidentified white pills.

The company, RYB Education, says in a statement it's cooperating with the investigation and has suspended some teachers at the school.

Beijing-based RYB's shares are traded in the U.S. It operates 1,300 daycare centers and nearly 500 kindergartens in 300 Chinese cities.