Around 20 bodies have been recovered from a fire that broke out Monday at a lithium battery production plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, according to Seoul-based Yonhap News.

Fire officials said flames broke out at the factory around 10:30 a.m. and the main fire was extinguished around 3:10 p.m.

Rescue workers entered the site to search for 23 people who were unaccounted for, including 20 foreign workers.

Fire authorities had earlier announced that they found one dead from the fire, but with the latest recovery of bodies, casualties are feared to rise further as mobile phone location data of those missing suggest that they were on or around the factory at the time of the fire.  

Authorities have mobilized 145 firefighters and other rescue workers and 50 firetrucks to extinguish the fire. 

Over 35-thousand lithium battery products were said to have been stored in the factory.