At the very least 85 individuals had been killed when an airliner landed with out wheels, veering off the runway and erupting in a fireball because it slammed right into a wall at South Korea’s Muan Worldwide Airport on Sunday, the nationwide fireplace company mentioned.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from the Thai capital Bangkok with 181 individuals on board, was trying to land shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) on the airport within the south of the nation, South Korea’s transport ministry mentioned.
The ministry additionally confirmed the casualties within the deadliest air accident involving a South Korean airline in practically three a long time.
Two crew members, a person and a lady, had been rescued from the tail part of the burning airplane, Muan fireplace chief Lee Jung-hyun informed a briefing. The fireplace was extinguished by 1 p.m., Lee mentioned.
“Solely the tail half retains somewhat little bit of form, and the remainder of (the airplane) seems to be nearly unimaginable to acknowledge,” he mentioned.
Authorities have switched from rescue to restoration operations and due to the power of the impression, are looking out close by areas for our bodies presumably thrown from the airplane, Lee added.
The 2 crew had been being handled at hospitals with medium to extreme accidents, mentioned the top of the native public well being heart.
Yonhap information company cited a fireplace official as saying most of 175 passengers and 6 crew had been presumed useless.
At the very least 58 our bodies have been recovered however that quantity isn’t ultimate, one other fireplace official informed Reuters.
Authorities had labored to rescue individuals within the tail part, an airport official informed Reuters shortly after the crash.
Video shared by native media confirmed the twin-engine plane skidding down the runway with no obvious touchdown gear earlier than slamming right into a wall in an explosion of flame and particles. Different photographs confirmed smoke and fireplace engulfing components of the airplane.
The crash is the worst by any South Korean airline since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed greater than 200 individuals, in keeping with transportation ministry knowledge.
Investigators are wanting into chook strikes and climate circumstances as doable elements, Lee mentioned. Yonhap cited airport authorities as saying a chook strike might have triggered the touchdown gear to malfunction.
A passenger texted a relative to say a chook was caught within the wing, the News1 company reported. The individual’s ultimate message was, “Ought to I say my final phrases?”
The passengers included two Thai nationals and the remaining are believed to be South Koreans, in keeping with the transportation ministry.
The airplane was a Boeing 737-800 jet operated by Jeju Air, which was in search of particulars of the accident, together with its casualties and trigger, an airline spokesperson mentioned. The transport ministry mentioned the airplane was manufactured in 2009.
Jeju Air posted a message apologizing for the accident.
Boeing mentioned in a emailed assertion, “We’re in touch with Jeju Air relating to flight 2216 and stand able to help them. We prolong our deepest condolences to the households who misplaced family members, and our ideas stay with the passengers and crew.”
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
All home and worldwide flights at Muan airport had been cancelled, Yonhap reported.
South Korean appearing President Choi Sang-mok, named interim chief of the nation on Friday in an ongoing political disaster, arrived on the scene of the accident and mentioned the federal government was placing all its sources into coping with the crash.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra despatched condolences to the households of the useless and injured in a submit on X, saying she had instructed the international ministry to supply help.
The ministry mentioned in an announcement it was in contact with the South Korean authorities.
This story is growing. Please examine again for updates.
