BEIJING: At least eight people have been killed in an explosion at a biotech factory in northern China, state media reported on Sunday, revising the death toll upward by one.

China’s state news agency Xinhua said the blast occurred on Saturday morning at the Jiapeng Biotech Company in Shanxi province. Earlier reports had put the death toll at seven, with one person missing, but authorities later confirmed that eight fatalities had been recorded.

Xinhua reported that the company’s legal representative had been taken into custody as investigations into the incident intensified.

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The factory is located in Shanyin County, roughly 400 kilometres west of Beijing.

Cleanup operations were continuing at the site, where dark yellow smoke was still visible, according to the report.

Authorities have formed a special investigative team to determine the cause of the explosion.

Industrial accidents remain frequent in China, often attributed to inadequate safety standards and regulatory enforcement. In late January, a blast at a steel plant in neighbouring Inner Mongolia province killed at least nine people.