Three students have been killed in an explosion in a science lab at Beijing’s Jiaotong University, state media reports say.

China Global Television Network said the accident occurred during a chemistry experiment on Wednesday.

Videos of the scene showed large flames and plumes of smoke pouring out of a low-rise building on the university campus.

Footage of the aftermath, meanwhile, indicated that the fire had ripped through the first two floors of the building.

#UPDATE: 3 students killed in the lab #blast at Beijing Jiaotong University. Beijing’s fire department has confirmed that the explosion occurred while the students were carrying out a scientific experiment. https://t.co/FB8aZRhB5r

— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) December 26, 2018

The news came hours after a blast at a chemical plant in China’s northwestern Xinjiang autonomous region killed three people and severely injured six.

The explosion occurred when Xinjiang Xinzhi Energy Chemicals Co tested a rotary lime kiln on Tuesday afternoon, the report said.

The deadly accident comes about one month after a gas leak at a plant owned by a ChemChina subsidiary caused a blast that killed 23 people in the eastern Hebei province.