An explosion occurred on the morning of the 1st at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant in Yuseong District, Daejeon, leaving seven people dead or injured.
According to fire authorities, five people were killed and two were injured in the accident. Fire authorities initially announced six deaths, then corrected the figure. One of the injured is in serious condition and the other has minor injuries.
At about 10:59 a.m. that day, a 119 call reported an explosion in a laboratory at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant. Fire authorities issued Level 1 fire response at 11:17 a.m. and began extinguishing the blaze.
The main flames were brought under control at about 11:49 a.m., and all fires were out at about 1:07 p.m. Fire authorities have now lifted the Level 1 fire response.
The Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant has handled work such as developing and producing large propulsion systems and filling propellants. Police and fire authorities plan to investigate the exact cause of the accident once the extinguishing work is completed.
This is not the first explosion at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant. In May 2018, an explosion at the site killed two people, and three others who were receiving hospital treatment later died. In February 2019, an explosion occurred in a propellant forming room, killing three people.
Hanwha Group issued a statement saying, "We will thoroughly determine the cause of the accident to ensure such a devastating incident never happens again," and "We deeply apologize with our heads bowed."