URUMQI: Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region authorities yesterday denied media reports that two people were detained after one of them set fire to toilet paper in the lavatory on a flight taking off from regional capital Urumqi during the weekend.

"Only one person was detained for smoking in the toilet, not for setting fire to toilet paper as some media reported. The second person was taken away by police because the two were traveling together," regional spokesperson Hou Hanmin told China Daily yesterday.

The Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday that the crew of China Southern flight CZ6939 discovered that a passenger had allegedly set fire to toilet paper in the lavatory, which triggered the fire alarm.