One person was killed and seven injured at an explosion occurred on Thursday at an auto parts plant in North China's municipality of Tianjin.

The blast happened at a Sino-South Korean joint venture around 12:50 am at Tianjin Port bonded area, according to Jinyun news app. All the injured are receiving medical treatment.

Local emergency management authorities in Binhai New Area and the fire department in Tianjin Port bonded area dispatched rescue teams to the scene. As of 3:30 pm, the search and rescue work had finished.

An investigation was opened into the cause of the accident.

According to Qichacha, a major enterprise credit investigation agency, the company under the English name of Tianjin Jc Auto Parts Co Ltd was registered in 2005 at the bonded port area, the Tianjin Free Trade Zone, in the Binhai New Area.