China has arrested two labor bureau officials for their alleged links to slave labor in brick kilns, amid reports Friday that kiln bosses were hiding child laborers and charging ransoms for their release.

The pair are the first officials arrested in connection with the enslaving of hundreds of children and adults at brick factories where they were forced to work long hours in grueling conditions without pay.

Also Friday, police in Shanxi province said 55 people were being investigated in 15 separate cases of slavery at brick kilns. Police said 35 of those suspects were in detention with the other 20 on the run, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Xinhua identified the two arrested officials as the head of the labor inspection team in Yongji district of Shanxi province, who was charged with dereliction of duty, and one of his officers, charged with abuse of power.

It said the two officials were responsible for abducting an underaged laborer who had been released from a kiln and was being transported home. They then sent the boy to another kiln where he was again forced into slavery, it said.

The victim wasn't identified, but The Associated Press interviewed a father in Henan Province who said his missing 17-year-old son experienced a similar situation.

The scandal that has brewed on the Internet and in state media prompted an extraordinary self-criticism this week from Shanxi Gov. Yu Youjun, making him the first high-ranking official to perform a potentially career-damaging act of contrition in relation to the case.

That came during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, who has built his public image on concern for the welfare of ordinary Chinese. Wen has ordered a thorough probe and punishment of kiln owners and officials who abetted their activities.

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