Police in Vietnam have arrested the owner of a scrap warehouse where a blast had killed two children and injured several people this week.

Nguyen Van Tien, 44, who owns a warehouse storing scrap metal in Bac Ninh Province, is being held in custody for the illegal storage and trade of military weapons, the provincial Department of Police confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday evening.

An explosion occurred at the facility at around 4:10 am the same day, claiming the lives of two young children, two-year-old Nguyen Tien Nam and six-year-old Dang Thuy Trang, and wounding seven people.

Four nearby houses were knocked down, while some others were damaged.

Nearby houses were devastated by the force of the blast. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Tien and his wife, Nguyen Thi Canh, were summoned to the local police station later the same morning.

According to his statements, Tien rented the venue to run a business of collecting and reselling scrap metal, while he and his wife live in a different house in the northern province.

In December 2016, he bought seven metric tons of old bullets to extract scrap metal.

The bullets, which were stored in the yard of the warehouse, triggered the blast.

A large number of old bullets have been collected by competent agencies. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Competent agencies are continuing their investigation and will deal with the case in accordance with the law, police said.

They have been collecting the bullet shells and debris, cleaning up the affected area, and estimating damages.

Those residents whose houses were destroyed have been provided with a temporary place to stay, while family members of the injured and deceased have been offered financial support.

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