Two detained over plane washroom fire in China's troubled west

Jan 30, 2010, 9:16 GMT

Beijing - Chinese authorities detained two people Saturday after a passenger set fire in the washroom on a domestic flight from the country's troubled Xinjiang region, state media reported.

The China Southern flight returned to Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, some time after take-off, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing Xinjiang police sources.

A man and a woman were taken into police custody at Urumqi's airport and the case was being investigated, the report said.

In March 2008, authorities said they foiled an apparent terrorist attack on a flight from Xinjiang to Beijing.

In that incident, two people including an ethnic Uighur woman were arrested after a passenger was caught trying to ignite fuel inside the plane's bathroom, local media reported at the time.

In Xinjiang, tensions continue to simmer between the region's Muslim Uighur and Han Chinese residents.

Ethnic riots in Urumqi last July saw 197 people killed and thousands injured according to official figures.

Over the past few decades, many Uighurs have resisted Chinese rule. In response, authorities have repeatedly waged campaigns against those seen as 'separatists'.