The daughter of the suspect in a bus explosion on January 5 was put under criminal detention on Monday for "being a major suspect involved in the case," local police of Pucheng county, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, have announced.

The blast occurred at around 6:40 pm on a long-distance bus which had 47 people on board in Pucheng. A total of 24 passengers, aged between 3 and 44, were injured. The blast also claimed the lives of five people in total, including the suspect, Dang Zhaofei, who is a local resident of Dongdang village in the county.

Dang's wife was also allegedly on the bus, but her name was not on the list of the injured.

Dang Zhaoying, a brother of the suspect, said that they were informed of the detention of the suspect's daughter on Monday and the notice read that the police decided to arrest her on January 8.

But Dang's family has refused to sign the document that notified them of the arrest, The Beijing News reported.

However, police at the detention house in Pucheng said that they did not know evidence identifying her as a "major suspect."

The police said Dang Zhaofei has been under psychological pressure since drowning of his son several years ago.

Global Times