SEOUL, June 1 -- The death toll from an explosion at a South Korean aerospace manufacturing plant has risen to five, according to media reports citing fire authorities on Monday.

The blast occurred at a Hanwha Aerospace facility in Daejeon, located about 150 kilometres south of Seoul. Emergency services received the first report of the explosion at 10:59 a.m. local time (0159 GMT).

Fire authorities confirmed that five people were killed and two others injured in the accident at the plant operated by Hanwha Aerospace, South Korea's leading aerospace and defence company.

Authorities said around 30 emergency calls were received from residents reporting a loud explosion and smoke rising from the site.

A level-1 emergency response was issu...