Two labor watchdog officials from north China's Shanxi Province have been detained by police in connection with the recent slave-worker scandal.

Hou Junyuan, head of the labor inspection team of the Yongji labor and social security bureau, was accused of dereliction of duty and detained on Thursday afternoon.

Another member of his team, Shang Guangze, was arrested on charges of abuse of power and fired from his job.

Following an investigation, it was found that Shang had transferred an underage laborer, who was from central China's Henan Province and was about to be sent home, to work at another kiln.

Known by his surname Zhu, the 17-year-old had recently been saved from a brick kiln by the labor inspection team following an investigation into the use of laborers on May 28. Shang was assigned to escort him home.

"The incident has highlighted the loopholes in the management of labor use in rural areas and among the floating population," Shanxi Governor Yu Youjun said at a press conference on Friday in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2007)