Authorities in northern China have arrested five people accused of starving and beating workers at a brick kiln to keep them enslaved, state media reported Monday.
The suspects were arrested for “illegally holding and deliberately injuring laborers … and forcing them to do highly intensive manual labor,” the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The five include the kiln boss, the foreman and three hired thugs, Xinhua said. It said police are looking for three others in connection with the case, which has shocked China and exposed links between Communist Party officials and the kiln owners.
A man who answered the telephone at the Shanxi provincial public security bureau confirmed the arrests but would not give any details.
Heng Tinghan, the foreman, accused of using slave workers since March, was captured in central China’s Hubei province Saturday night after a nationwide hunt.
Praise God these lives are set free.
Let’s all rush out and buy Chinese made goods. They are really a bargain! How do they make things and sell them at such low, low prices?