An explosion at a chemical plant in China killed at least one person, local media reported today, just weeks after a massive blasts in a northern port killed 158.
Pictures said to show a fireball in Dongying, in the eastern province of Shandong, circulated on social media. Their authenticity could not be immediately verified.
The explosion occurred on Monday night at the Diao Kou Xiang Bin Yuan Chemical Co., according to a news website run by the local government.
The fire was extinguished about five hours later and "people in charge of the company" were detained by police, the site said.
The blast came in the wake of giant detonations at a hazardous goods storage facility that devastated a swathe of the city of Tianjin, a key Chinese port.
The disaster sparked widespread outrage over alleged safety violations and possible official collusion, and fears of pollutants contaminating the air and water of Tianjin, home to about 15 million people.
Another explosion at another chemical plant in Shandong killed one person and injured nine on August 23.
