Since the scandal broke last month, more than 8,000 kilns and small coal mines in Shanxi and Henan provinces have been raided, with 591 workers freed, including 51 children, according to state media.

Shanxi police said another 359 people had been freed in the province, 12 of whom were underage, while the ages of nine others were being checked, according to Xinhua.

About 160 suspected kiln bosses have been detained in the two provinces, and at least one village-level Communist Party secretary expelled from the party after his son was found to be operating a kiln where 31 slaves were found laboring under extraordinarily cruel conditions.

Workers, including small children, were kidnapped or lured with false promises of well-paying jobs by recruiters at train and bus stations. Sold on to kiln owners for 500 yuan (US$66), they were beaten, starved and forced to haul bricks for up to 20 hours per day for no pay. Many of those rescued showed serious injuries from burns and beatings.

Investigations have been spearheaded largely by parents searching the mountains of southern Shanxi for missing sons. One group claiming to represent 400 fathers circulated an open letter online saying 1,000 children were being held and accusing officials of ignoring or obstructing their searches.

However, reports Friday said some parents had been contacted by their abducted sons who told them they would be released on payment of a ransom.

The official China Daily newspaper said a family surnamed Yuan said their son told them the kiln boss was demanding 35,000 yuan (US$4,600) for his release. It said other operators had been tipped off to raids and shifted their slave laborers to remote hiding places.

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