Not less than 151 individuals have been killed when a passenger aircraft caught hearth after skidding off a runway and slamming right into a concrete fence at a South Korean airport.
Two crew members had been rescued after the accident that occurred on Sunday at 9:03am native time (00:03 GMT).
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport mentioned the aircraft – a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet – was coming back from Bangkok and its passengers included two Thai nationals.
The Nationwide Fireplace Company mentioned rescuers raced to drag individuals out of the Jeju Air aircraft carrying 181 passengers on the airport within the city of Muan, about 290km (180 miles) south of Seoul.
The fireplace company deployed 32 hearth vehicles and several other helicopters to include the fireplace, it mentioned.
Not less than 151 individuals — 71 ladies, 71 males and 9 others whose genders weren’t instantly identifiable – died within the hearth, the fireplace company mentioned.
The dying toll is predicted to rise additional as the remainder of the passengers on board the aircraft stay lacking about six hours after the incident – making it one of many worst airline disasters to hit South Korea.
Footage of the crash aired by YTN tv confirmed the Jeju Air aircraft skidding throughout the airstrip, apparently with its touchdown gear nonetheless closed, and colliding head-on with a concrete wall on the outskirts of the airport.
Different native TV stations aired footage displaying thick pillars of black smoke from the aircraft engulfed in flames.
Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan hearth station, advised a televised briefing that rescue staff are persevering with to seek for our bodies scattered by the crash affect.
The aircraft was destroyed, with solely the tail meeting remaining recognizable among the many wreckage, he mentioned.
Employees had been trying into numerous potentialities about what precipitated the crash, together with whether or not the plane was struck by birds that precipitated mechanical issues, Lee mentioned.
Senior Transport Ministry official Joo Jong-wan individually advised reporters that authorities investigators arrived on the web site to research the reason for the crash and hearth.
