AFP Videos – France
Shock and distress at the scene of the deadly crash in South Korea
At Muan airport in South Korea, the smell of gasoline is persistent. Behind a police cordon, fragments of armchairs, suitcases and other pieces of metal are scattered on the ground, near the cabin of the Jeju Air flight. The Boeing 737-800, which linked Bangkok to Muan (southwest), crashed on Sunday morning while attempting an emergency landing following a possible collision with birds, before catching fire. While hundreds of rescuers managed to bring the the fire and combed the aircraft, only two survivors, members of the crew, were identified, out of the 181 passengers. “One of my sons was on board this flight, he has yet to be identified “, worries an old man in an airport lounge, preferring to keep his name quiet. At the crash site, only the crackling of cameras and the voices of journalists are heard while near the tarmac, we can see remains of brochures from duty-free, sanitary gloves worn by the crew and the charred tail of the plane. A yellow crane lifted the aircraft to allow the search to be extended. The families, crying or mute, found themselves on the first floor from the airport, looking for news from their loved ones. Many passengers, all Koreans with the exception of two Thais, were returning home after their vacation, like Jo’s sister. “My younger sister is flown to paradise today”, breathes Jo, 65 years old, gray cap on her head and mask on her mouth. “My husband is seeing if she has been identified.” The billboards which usually indicate departures and arrivals now list the victims, with their dates of birth and their nationalities. In shock, a woman was carried on a stretcher after fainting. According to authorities, the youngest passenger was three years old and the oldest was 78 years old. Five children under the age of ten died.- “Impossible to land” – On Sunday, South Korean television stations stopped the end-of-year series to go live on the drama and a minute of silence was observed at sporting events across the country. This is an unprecedented air disaster for South Korea, which has also been going through a serious political crisis since President Yoon Suk Yeol attempted, in early December, to proclaim martial law, leading to his dismissal.The country is on its third manager in less than a month: the interim president in place since mid-December, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, was in turn dismissed on Friday, with deputies accusing him of having tried to obstruct the investigation into the coup of his predecessor. The new interim head of state, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, went to Muan in the afternoon and chaired an emergency government meeting .Because of the accident, civil society organizations said they were considering postponing major protests intended to put pressure on judges to validate Mr. Yoon’s dismissal. The tarmac at Muan airport will remain closed this week while investigators will try to determine the causes of the accident, authorities said. Messages exchanged between a passenger and his child were widely reported in local media. “Wait, a bird is stuck in the wing of the plane . Can’t land now. Should I share my last wishes?”, indicates the passenger’s last message, sent at 9:01 a.m. “Why can’t I call you?!”, the child replies at 9:37 a.m. His message was not lu.kjk-hs/ceb/cgo/cm
