South Korean soldiers search for missing passengers near the wreckage of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft after the plane crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in South Korea, December 29, 2024. /CFP
To date, 179 people have died, and two people have been rescued from a plane carrying 181 people that crashed at Muan International Airport in South Korea, multiple media outlets said on Sunday, citing the fire authorities.
The fire authorities were quoted as saying that the bodies of 179 victims were retrieved from the scene at 8:38 p.m. local time, with only two crew members being rescued.
It is the worst air disaster in the country's modern history since 66 people were killed in a plane crash in 1993.
According to reports, at about 9:03 a.m. local time, the airplane carrying 175 passengers, including 173 South Koreans and two Thais, and six crew members crashed while attempting to land at the Muan International Airport, some 290 kilometers southwest of the capital, Seoul.
The Jeju Air flight 7C2216 from Bangkok, Thailand, landed without wheels, skidded off the runway, and hit the outer wall of the runway. Its fuselage, which had broken in half during the ordeal, caught fire upon impact with the wall.
Only two crew members were rescued at the rear of the ill-fated aircraft, most parts of which were severely damaged.
The fire authorities believe a bird strike that led to landing gear failure may have caused the accident.
After the first landing attempt, the aircraft circled and made the second landing attempt with a belly landing that resulted in the disaster.
A fire official briefs the family members of the passengers on a plane that had burst into flames at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, December 29, 2024. /CFP
TV footage showed a big plume of black smoke billowing out of the Boeing 737-800 engulfed by flames. Other footage showed an engine on the plane's right wing emitting fire and smoke before attempting to land.
An official with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said at a televised press briefing that the flight data and voice recorders were retrieved from the crash site to investigate the air disaster. However, the ministry cautioned that it may take months to years to figure out the exact cause of the accident.
South Korean acting President Choi Sang-mok on Sunday announced a weeklong mourning period over the tragedy.
Choi said during a central disaster countermeasures meeting that the government will set seven days until midnight on January 4 next year as the national mourning period and set up joint memorial altars in 17 cities and provinces to express condolences to bereaved families and victims.
He said civil servants in all ministries, local governments and public institutions will wear mourning ribbons during the period, vowing to thoroughly investigate the exact cause of the accident and take action to prevent the recurrence of such a tragic accident.
Choi declared Muan county a special disaster area to provide the necessary support for the bereaved families and the injured.
(With input from Xinhua)