CHACHAPA, Mexico (AFP) - The death toll from a natural gas plant explosion in central Mexico rose to five on Wednesday after workers found another body while cleaning the site, authorities said.

Two containers with a capacity for 250,000 liters of gas blew up for unknown reasons in the town of Chachapa on Tuesday, said Puebla state civil protection director Jesus Morales.

A fire broke out afterward and took three hours to extinguish. The plant, which held gas for domestic use, belongs to the Gas Tomza company.

Nearby businesses in the industrial area where the blast occurred were evacuated.

"We found the fifth body during cleanup at dawn," Mr Morales said.

Explosions are not uncommon at gas and oil facilities in Mexico.

In September 2012, a huge explosion killed 30 people at a gas facility run by state-run energy giant Pemex near the US border.

More recently, 37 people died when a methane gas build-up caused an explosion that rocked the Mexico City headquarters of Pemex, killing at least 37 people.