The death toll rose to five in an explosion at an aerospace plant in the Republic of Korea, Yonhap news agency said Monday, citing the fire authorities.

An emergency call was received at 10:59 a.m. (0159 GMT), reporting the blast at the Hanwha Aerospace plant in Daejeon, about 150 kilometers south of the capital Seoul.

The fire authorities confirmed five deaths and two injuries in the accident at the plant of Hanwha Aerospace, the country's leading aerospace and defense company.

The fire authorities issued a level-1 response at around 11:17 a.m. and brought the fire under control by 11:49 a.m.

The plant previously suffered propellant-related accidents in 2018 and 2019 that killed eight workers in total.

The police and the fire authorities believed that the explosion occurred on the first floor of the plant for unidentified reasons, planning to investigate the exact cause of the accident.