GUANGZHOU - Nine people were killed and six injured in an explosion at a steel plant in south China's Guangdong province Monday, local authorities said.

The explosion occurred at about 3:48 pm as workers from the Shanghai subsidiary of China MCC5 Group Corp. were installing facilities at the Shaoguan Steel Co. Ltd., the Shaoguan municipal government said in a press release.

Eight people were killed and seven injured at the scene. Of the seven, two were seriously injured and one of them died late Monday night at hospital.

An investigation into the cause of the explosion is under way.