BEIJING – Chinese authorities confirmed on Wednesday the death of two people who went missing after an explosion at a factory in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province on Sunday, raising the death toll to four, according to state-owned Xinhua agency.

The two victims were identified as the father and cousin of the man who owned the explosives, surnamed Shan, who was detained on Tuesday in the central province of Hubei after the police discovered that they had been manufacturing the explosives in an illegal manner.

The investigating officers suspect that both men, who were found under rubble on Wednesday, went to the factory to dispose of the illegal merchandise when the explosion occurred, killing the pair.

Shan, who had been sought by the Chinese authorities for some time, confessed to the police after his arrest that he had asked relatives – without specifying who – to go to the factory to remove the explosives and prevent their seizure.

The confirmation of the two new victims raises the death toll to four in the explosion, which also left several injured and an abundance of property damage.