Twelve people were confirmed dead when an explosion went off at a chemical plant in north China's Hebei Province Tuesday morning, local authorities said.

The accident happened at around 9:30 a.m. at Hebei Keeperchemical Industries Co.,Ltd in Zhaoxian County, said Cheng Weiqing, vice chief of the public security bureau of Shijiazhuang, Hebei's capital city which administers Zhaoxian county.

The blast flattened one of the factory's workshops and broke window panes within a radius of 2,000 meters, Cheng quoted witnesses as saying.

More than forty injured people were hospitalized to receive treatment, according to Cheng. And tremors were felt in at least three villages near the plant, Cheng said.

The explosion at the plant, which manufactures pesticide products such as guanidine nitrate, is of no risk of diffusion, Cheng added.