JINAN - Two people were killed after a waste water treatment device exploded Sunday night in a chemical plant in east China's Shandong Province, local government said Monday.

The explosion occurred at around 8:20 p.m. in a plant of Lianhetech, a chemical firm listed in the Shenzhen stock market, in Pingyuan County, Dezhou City. Seven people were hospitalized. Two of them died while the other five are in stable conditions, according a statement from the local government.

No chemical leakage was reported. Production in the plant has been shut down while further investigation is underway, it added.