At least three workers were killed after an explosion rocked a petrochemical company in Songyuan city, northeast China’s Jilin Province, on Friday.

The provincial information office released a statement on its official Weibo account, saying that the blast occurred in a hydrogenation workshop when several workers were welding gauges on top of a tank used to store acidic materials. The tank exploded during the process. 

The area was sealed off immediately after the accident and the production was brought to a halt in order to avoid a secondary accident. 

Local authorities have urged an emergency working group to start security checks in the company, as well as launch an investigation into the accident.

The local government has vowed to punish people responsible for the accident and to release the details to public in due time.