HANOI: One paper factory worker died and two others were injured in a huge explosion in Vietnam's Bac Ninh province on Tuesday morning, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The explosion occurred at around 10:30 a.m. at Hung Loi Paper Joint Stock Company in Phu Lam industrial cluster when the workers were repairing machines, Xinhua news agency reported.

A 31-year-old worker died on the scene, while two others were taken to hospital in an emergency.

A gas pit explosion was initially identified as the primary reason.

According to Vietnam News Agency, Hung Loi company has faced administrative sanctions for not having an environmental permit and been required to suspend the operation of the waste generation source for 4.5 months since January this year.

Vietnam recorded 1,179 fires and explosions in the first three months of 2023, which left 24 people dead, 18 others injured and caused property losses of about 71.1 billion Vietnamese dong (2.8 million U.S. dollars), said the General Statistics Office.