YONGIN -- A fire broke out in a distribution center in Yongin, south of Seoul, leaving five people dead, the National Fire Agency said Tuesday.

The fire started at 8:29 a.m. at the SLC Distribution Center in the city. Firefighters arrived at the scene 10 minutes later to put out the fire.

A total of 69 workers were working at the center and most of them were on the basement level four at the time of the fire. Among them, 64 have been evacuated, of which eight -- one in critical condition -- were injured. The rest suffered minor injuries.

All of the victims were found on the basement level four, where, according to witnesses, a fire started after an explosion in a freight truck, which was loading frozen processed foods.

The sudden explosion and ensuing smoke seemed to make it very difficult for workers to escape from the basement, the agency said.

The fire Tuesday marked the second time in less than three months that a distribution center has been engulfed in fire.

In April, 38 workers were killed and 10 others were injured in a blaze at a warehouse construction site in Icheon, 80 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

Experts say a distribution center is prone to a deadly fire, with stacks of flammable stuff and products and poor ventilation.

Police and the agency were investigating the exact cause of the fire at the nine-story building with five underground levels. The 115,000 square-meter center was built in December 2018 and some 150 people reportedly work there. (Yonhap)