China rescues 30 slaves

AUTHORITIES in China rescued 30 workers with severe learning difficulties used as slaves in illegal brick factories, in the nation’s latest case of labour abuse.

State media said some of the victims, who were also regularly beaten, had toiled for more than seven years without pay in Henan province — already the scene of a huge slavery scandal in 2007.

Authorities are in the process of locating their families. Officials said the victims were mostly abducted and sold for €60.

One factory supervisor accused of whipping the slaves was just 14 years old.

In a scandal that shocked the nation in 2007, thousands were found to be working without pay in brick factories in Henan and further north in Shanxi province.

They had been subjected to regular beatings and near-starvation, with the alleged collusion of local officials and police.