A fire tore through a pharmaceutical company in China's Shandong province on April 15, suffocating to death at least 10 persons and injuring 12 others, the fourth major industrial accident in the country since last month.

The incident occurred on April 15 afternoon in the basement of Qilu Tianhe Pharmaceutical when welding sparks ignited a heat-transferring substance, generating smoke, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Eight persons who were working on a pipeline renovation project suffocated to death on the spot, and two others died despite emergency medical treatment.

Twelve rescuers also sustained minor smoke inhalation injuries, which were not life-threatening, the report said. On March 31, seven persons were killed and five others injured in an explosion at a scrap metal moulding plant in China's Jiangsu Province. On March 30, five persons were killed in an explosion in a factory in China's Shandong Province.

On March 22, one of China's worst industrial accidents in which 78 people were killed and over 600 others injured took place. The powerful blast at a pesticide factory in eastern city of Yancheng demolished a number of other factories in the industrial park. Following the accident, the Chinese government ordered nationwide inspection of chemical industries to prevent large scale factory explosion.