120 detained in forced labor scandal

As many as 120 suspects have been detained in connection with a scandal where hundreds of laborers, including children, were forced to work in conditions close to slavery in thousands of brickwork factories in Shanxi and Henan provinces.

According to Chinese authorities, so far 217 people including 29 children have been rescued from the numerous factories by a fleet of tens of thousands of police officers. Many more are feared to remain trapped, forced to make bricks in inhumaine conditions.

The workers were physically abused, starved and forced to work long days with little or no pay in primitive brick kilns. According to Xinhua, the victims had been "enticed or sent by human traffickers to the kilns."

The scandal has given rise to rise to criticism over the official's indifference towards the poor farming families. Chinese media have reported that the fathers of boys kidnapped from Henan who launched an online campaign to find their children complained that Shanxi police were unwilling to help Henan authorities to find and rescue the children. Reportedly, the local officials have apologized for their failure to rescue the workers after the tragedy received wider media coverage.

A reporter from Henan was quoted by Reuters as saying that at least "1,000 minors from Henan have been trapped and cheated into back-breaking work in these Shanxi brick kilns."

Henan's police governor Qin Yuhai vowed that the authorities will do everything they can to find the rest of the people being held captive and fight human trafficking.