Nineteen people were detained up to 15 days in the past month for carrying inflammable or explosive materials on local subways, Shanghai Metro police were quoted as saying by Tuesday's Shanghai Daily.

Shanghai police stepped up checks on banned items on public transports after the June 5 Chengdu bus blaze, in which a man deliberately ignited gas in a bus in the capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, killing 27 people and injuring 74 others.

Over 7,500 goods, including highly concentrated industrial alcohol, paint and lacquer thinner, have been seized this year, according to Metro police.

Security staff at Metro stations checked commuters for banned items such as fireworks, gasoline, poisons, corrosive materials and hazardous chemicals.

Many detained passengers were aware that flammable and explosive articles are banned on the Metro, but they thought they wouldn't be checked, Metro police said.

Police also urged Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, the local Metro operator, to renew old monitoring cameras on the Metro. Some monitoring machines on Metro Lines 1 to 5 have not been used for eight years, police said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2009)