Blast kills four at South Korean chemical factory 

Seoul: At least four people were killed and four others sustained injuries after an explosion rocked a petrochemical factory in the southern port city of Yeosu, South Korea on Friday.

The incident occurred around 9:26 am, local time and total eight individuals were believed to be in the Yeochun NCC Co. factory.

The deceased and injured were taken to a local hospital following the Friday morning explosion.

It was previously reported that only three of the eight workers were dead.

As per officials, the blast was a result of the factory's heat exchange system. However, the official cause of the incident remains under investigation.

A fire broke out after the explosion but was contained in ten minutes.

Police believe that lingering gas in a storage tank reacted with a flammable substance and exploded.

It was the shock from the massive explosion that caused the high death toll, said police.

The number of deaths is expected rise.

Yeochun NCC, also known as YNCC, manufactures and sells a number of important and highly-toxic industrial chemical products, including benzene, propylene, ethylene, toluene, xylene and styrene monomer.

A similar explosion killed one person at the complex in 2003. Elsewhere in Korea a toxic gas leak at a chemical factory in the south-eastern industrial city of Gumi left 11 workers hospitalised and forced the evacuation of residents living nearby.