BEIJING: An explosion caused by a gas leak ripped through a factory in China's Shandong Province, killing five persons and injuring three others, the second such incident in about a week.

The explosion happened at 9:35 pm (local time) on Friday in a workshop of a perlite factory in the city of Qingzhou.

Five persons were killed and three were slightly injured outside the workshop, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The private factory owner was held by the local police. Initial investigation showed the accident was caused by a leak in a liquefied gas tank. Further investigation is underway.

The incident happened barely a week after one of China's worst recent industrial blast, in which 78 people were killed and 600 others were injured from a chemical plant explosion in the fertilizer factory in Jiangsu province.

Following the accident, the Chinese government has ordered nationwide inspection of chemical industries to prevent large scale factory explosions.