By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING

An explosion at a chemical plant in China’s eastern Shandong Province has left two people dead and five others hospitalized.

State news agency Xinhua reported Monday that the accident occurred when a waste water treatment device blew up Sunday night at the plant in Dezhou City.

It cited the local government as saying that seven victims were transported to hospital, where two of them succumbed to their injuries while the others remain in stable condition.

No chemical leaks were detected at the site owned by Lianhetech, a private high-tech chemical corporation.

Dozens of people are killed in industrial accidents in China each year, raising questions about lax safety regulations in the country.

On Aug. 12 last year, two massive warehouse explosions rocked the northern port city of Tianjin, leaving 173 dead including many firefighters.

In mid-January, at least four workers died in a blast at a machinery factory in China’s largest city Shanghai.

One week later, three people were killed and more than 50 injured when explosions ripped through a fireworks factory in eastern Jiangxi Province, causing the evacuation of 1,000 nearby residents.