Seoul, June 2 (IANS) South Korean law enforcement authorities launched a joint inspection on Tuesday of a Hanwha Aerospace factory as part of a probe into a deadly explosion at the facility the previous day.
The blast at the defence company’s facility in Daejeon, some 140 kilometres south of Seoul, killed five people and injured two others.
The joint inspection involved officials from the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, the fire service, the National Forensic Service, the labour ministry and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, reports Yonhap news agency.
The police plan to investigate the exact cause of the explosion by locating where the ignition began and looking into whether flammable materials were present at the scene.
Hanwha officials have said workers were cleaning propellant powder residue from tools used in producing propulsion systems at the time of the explosion.
The building where the explosion took place has been partially damaged, but it is not at risk of collapse, according to the police.
Labour Minister Kim Young-hoon, who joined the inspection, vowed to carry out a thorough probe into the accident in a social media post.
“Through a thorough probe, (we) will fulfil our duty as the living,” Kim wrote on X.
The explosion is suspected to have occurred as workers at the site were conducting cleaning work.
“Various tools are used in the process of producing rocket propellant, and it appears that the explosion occurred while cleaning the propellant residue (left on the tools),” a company official said during a press briefing.
Firefighters fully extinguished the blaze at 1:07 p.m., with authorities planning to investigate the exact cause of the blaze.
The Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office said it formed a dedicated investigation team to determine the cause and identify those responsible.
It marked the latest deadly explosion at the company facility, which develops large propulsion engines and tactical surface-to-surface weapon systems.
–IANS
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