An explosion at a chemical plant in China killed at least five people, local media reported Tuesday, just weeks after a massive blasts in a northern port killed 159.

Pictures said to show a fireball in Dongying, in the eastern province of Shandong, circulated on social media.

The explosion occurred on Monday night at the Diao Kou Xiang Bin Yuan Chemical Co., according to a news website run by the local government.

The fire was extinguished about five hours later and "people in charge of the company" were detained by police, the site said.

China's official Xinhua news agency put the toll at five dead.

The blast came in the wake of huge explosions at a hazardous goods storage facility that devastated a swathe of the city of Tianjin, a key Chinese port. The toll from that incident rose to 159 on Tuesday, with another 14 people still missing.

Last month's disaster sparked widespread outrage over alleged safety violations and possible official collusion, and fears of pollutants contaminating the air and water of Tianjin, home to about 15 million people.

Another explosion at a chemical plant in Shandong killed one person and injured nine others on August 23.