South Korea's Hanwha Chemical says explosion at PVC plant, five killed

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hanwha Chemical Corp said there had been an explosion at one of its plastic production plants, leaving five dead and one person missing. The explosion occurred during welding work to expand a waste water disposal facility at its No.2 plant, located in Ulsan, about 300 kilometres (186 miles) southeast of Seoul, the company said in a statement on Friday. The affected plant makes polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a general-purpose plastic used in wide range of products. Hanwha Chemical shares had fallen 3.91 percent to 19,700 Korean won (11.3 pounds) by 02:52 a.m. BST, compared with a 0.53-percent decline in the broader market. (Reporting by Meeyoung Cho, Seung-yun Oh and Brian Kim)