Local police have seized a man who is suspected of being responsible for a coal mine blast that killed 16 miners in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last month, local government sources confirmed Sunday.

Yang Xiaodong, the shaft director who was on duty when the blast took place, ran away after the accident. Police seized Yang for investigation of the cause of the fatal blast.

The gas blast occurred at about 6:10 PM Oct. 27, at the Dianzhangou Zhongxing Coal Mine, a private business about 50 kilometers to the south of the urban area of Usu city, killing all16 miners working underground.

(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2005)