A South Korean Jeju Air plane left the runway on Sunday and crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea, killing at least 124 people, officials said. . South Korean firefighters.
The accident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) during the landing of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800, South Korea’s transport ministry said. The plane, coming from Bangkok, the Thai capital, was carrying 181 people, the ministry said.
It was the deadliest air disaster involving a South Korean airline in nearly 30 years.
“Only the back of the device retains its shape somewhat. It is almost impossible to recognize the rest (of the plane),” Muan Fire Chief Lee Jung-hyun said at a news conference.
Two crew members, a woman and a man, were pulled alive from the tail of the plane and the fire was extinguished around 1 p.m., he said.
Rescue operations are now aimed at recovering bodies that may have been ejected from the plane upon impact, Lee Jung-hyun added.
The two crew members who survived the accident, who had serious and serious injuries, were taken to hospital for treatment, the head of the local public health center said.
Yonhap News Agency, citing a fire official, reported that most of the 175 passengers and six crew members were presumed dead.
Jeju Air chief executive Kim E-bae apologized after the crash in a televised news conference.
The cause of the accident is still unknown, he said, adding that there were no warning signs of a malfunction in the plane. The airline will cooperate with investigators and make support for the bereaved its top priority.
Among the avenues investigated by investigators are a collision between a bird and the plane and weather conditions, Lee Jung-hyun said.
The control tower issued a warning about a risk of collision with birds and shortly after, the pilots issued a distress call, a Transport Ministry official said. He did not say whether the plane reported hitting any birds.
One of the passengers sent a message to a relative to say that a bird was stuck in the wing of the plane, the News1 news agency reported.
Boeing announced in a press release that it was in contact with the airline and “stands ready to assist them”. The company also sent its condolences to the families of the victims.
All domestic and international flights were canceled at Muan Airport, Yonhap reported.
Acting South Korean President Choi Sung-mok, appointed to lead the country on Friday after the dismissal of his predecessor, arrived at the scene of the accident and announced that the government was mobilizing all its resources to act after the disaster .
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra sent his condolences to the victims’ families in a message published on the social network X.
Two Thai women aged 22 and 45 were on the plane, Thai government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said, adding that details were still being verified.
This accident is the most serious experienced by a South Korean airline since that of Korean Air in Guam in 1997, which left more than 200 dead, according to data from the Ministry of Transport.
