A Jeju Air passenger plane from Thailand crashed at Muan International Airport in South Korea, killing 28 people out of the 181 passengers and crew.
Atleast 179 people are presumed died after a plane drove off the runway and crashed at the international airport in Muan, South Korea on Sunday, reported Yonhap news agency. The Jeju Air plane, with 175 passengers on board and six crew members was flying back from Thailand to the southwestern city when it skidded off the runway on Sunday morning and hit a wall during landing.
Search and rescue operations were launched following the crash and two people — one crew and one passenger — were found alive as the mission was continuing, said the national fire agency in a statement, reported AFP.
Except the two survivors, all the missing people are presumed to have been killed firefighting authorities said, as per the Yonhap report, adding they were shifting focus from rescue operations to recovering bodies.
An airport official told Reuters that the authorities were working to rescue people in the tail section.
In photos shared by locals and on social media, black smoke could be seen from the debris as flames engulfed parts of the plane
As many as 32 fire engines and scores of firefighters have been deployed to the scene, said the fire agency.
The initial fire was doused and a search and rescue operation was “underway at the crash site,” said the Ministry of Land in a statement.
A landing gear failure, possibly due to a bird strike, has been suspected by the officials as the cause of the crash, according to Yonhap. An on-site investigation has begun to determine the the exact cause.
Acting President Choi Sung-muk, who was named the country’s interim leader on Friday, ordered all-out rescue efforts, his office said.
Jeju Air was checking the reports, said an airline spokesperson.
