Eight people died in an explosion at former steel plant workshop Sunday in north China's Hebei province, the local government said Tuesday.

The explosion occurred at around 10:30 a.m. Sunday in Laiyuan county, said a county government spokesman. It took the police two days to clear the site to recover the bodies.

The blast damaged houses at the steel plant, a cement factory and buildings in two nearby villages. Eleven people were treated in hospital for minor injuries caused by flying glass.

A preliminary police investigation ascertained the blast was caused by illegal production of explosives at the rented workshop and the dead, who were still to be identified, were workers, said the spokesman.

Police are continuing to investigate.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2009)