(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-27 20:49

GUIYANG --  Eight people have been detained after a deadly gas leak in a mine in Southwest China's Guizhou Province killed 35 people on November 8, local police said on Tuesday.

The eight include Liu Longling, an investor in the Qunli coal mine, Li Tianxiang, a relative of Liu who was in charge of the mining project, and six other mine managers, according to police in Nayong County.

Investigators said the mine had ignored safety as it pursued production.

The families of the dead have each been paid 200,000 yuan ($27,000), according to the local government.

The operation of the mine is still suspended.