DAEGU (Yonhap) _ A fire broke out at a mushroom processing factory in Chongdo County, North Kyongsang Province, around 4:53 p.m. on Wednesday, leaving five people wounded and 12 others missing, police said.

Witnesses claimed that nine of the missing were killed in the fire.

Most of the victims of the fire were employees in their 40s who were working at the factory when the fire broke out.

A total of 162 employees were working in the two-story factory building, police said.

More than 20 fire engines and 160 firefighters rushed to the scene. They managed to bring the blaze under control in about three hours.

Police and firefighters were still investigating the exact cause of the fire, but police said they believed the fire was ignited by welders who were dismantling steel structures in the building.