BEIJING: An explosion at a biotech factory in northern China has killed eight people, state media reported on Sunday, raising the death toll by one from earlier reports.

China’s state news agency Xinhua initially said seven people had died and one was missing after the blast on Saturday morning at the Jiapeng biotech company in Shanxi province.

In an updated report, Xinhua confirmed that eight people were dead and said the company’s legal representative had been taken into custody.

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

Xinhua reported that clean-up operations were still underway, with reporters observing dark yellow smoke rising from the site. Authorities have formed an investigation team to determine the cause of the explosion.

The incident comes weeks after a separate explosion at a steel factory in neighbouring Inner Mongolia in late January, which left at least nine people dead.