- विज्ञापन -
South Korea: Around 177 people were killed where two others have been missing after a plane in South Korea crashed on Sunday.
The accident involved a Jeju Air passenger jet carrying 181 people, which belly-landed and exploded at Muan International Airport.
The crash is the worst accident in South Korea’s history, and the worst involving a local airline since the 1997 Korean Air plane crash in Guam, which killed 225 people.
Reports reaching said that the incident took place at around 9 am when the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, carrying 175 passengers and six crew members, veered off the runway while attempting to land.
The plane, which had departed from Bangkok early that morning, skidded along the ground without its landing gear deployed, crashing into a concrete wall before bursting into flames.
Authorities confirmed 177 deaths, while two crew members were rescued.
However, two people remain missing, and search operations continued through the night in an attempt to locate them. As of now, 22 victims have been identified.
The Jeju Air flight had been scheduled to arrive at Muan at approximately 8:30 am, but it crashed about an hour later. Most of the passengers were Korean, except for two Thai nationals.
Among the 181 people on board, there were 82 men and 93 women, with ages ranging from as young as three to 78 years old. Many of the passengers were in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, reports said.
Following the crash, only two crew members survived. They survived crew members were quickly rushed to hospital in Seoul.
The authorities believe that a landing gear failure, potentially caused by a bird strike, may have contributed to the accident.
