BEIJING, March 30, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Five workers were killed and three injured in a factory explosion caused by a gas leak in eastern China, local authorities said Saturday.
The blast happened Friday night at a perlite workshop in Shandong province, city officials said in a statement.
All five victims were inside the Qingzhou city workshop during the explosion.
“The cause of the accident was initially found to be a liquefied natural gas leak, and the specific cause is under further investigation,” the statement said.
A company official has also been detained by local authorities, it added.
The incident came barely a week after one of China’s worst recent industrial accidents, in which an explosion at a chemical plant killed 78 people.