Three people were killed and eight others injured after a natural gas pipe exploded on Monday in Dalian, a port city in northeast China's Liaoning Province, local authorities said.

The blast occurred at around 6 a.m. near a residential area in Jinzhou District. Eight were injured by shattered window glass and sent to the hospital.

The fire has been put out and preliminary investigation found that the explosion was caused by leakage from a pipeline.