A senior China Central Television official was among 12 people detained for possible criminal charges over a blaze at the broadcaster's new headquarters complex in Beijing on Monday night.
Four of the detainees were CCTV staff, and eight others worked for a Hunan fireworks-maker.
In a statement yesterday, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said Xu Wei, head of the CCTV office in charge of the 5 billion yuan (HK$5.68 billion) construction project, was detained on suspicion of crimes related to the mishandling of hazardous items.
Quoting unidentified sources, Xinhua said Xu was arrested immediately after the blaze that killed one fireman and injured eight others.
The eight employees from the Hunan-based Liuyang Ace Fireworks, who were supervising the fireworks show, fled the site shortly after the blaze started, but were later caught in Langfang, Hebei province.
No members of the company's management were available for comment, but an initial investigation found that although the factory was licensed to manage such pyrotechnic displays, CCTV's management had failed to seek the required municipal approval for the show.