94 dead, 2 rescued in passenger plane crash in Muan; other survivors unlikely

MUAN, South Korea, Dec. 29 : A passenger jet carrying 181 people erupted in flames after going off the runway and hitting a wall at an airport in South Korea's southwestern county of Muan on Sunday, authorities said. All but two are presumed to have been killed.

The accident happened at 9:07 a.m., when the Jeju Air flight veered off the runway while landing and collided with a fence wall at Muan International Airport in the Muan county, South Jeolla Province, about 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul.

Except the two rescued from the accident, all the missing people are presumed to have been killed, firefighting authorities said, adding that they were switching to search operations to recover bodies.

The authorities confirmed 94 deaths from the accident so far.

"After the plane collided with the wall, passengers were thrown out of the aircraft. The chances of survival are extremely low," a firefighting agency official said.

"The aircraft has almost completely been destroyed, and it is difficult to identify the deceased," the official said. "We are in the process of recovering the remains, which will take time."

One passenger and one crew member -- both women -- were rescued shortly after the accident and were being treated at a hospital in Mokpo.

A temporary morgue has been set up inside the Muan airport to lay the bodies of the victims.

A total of 181, including six crew members, were aboard the plane that was returning from Bangkok.

Most of the passengers were Koreans, except for two Thai nationals.

Videos aired by local TV stations show the plane attempting to land without its landing gear deployed. The plane skidded along the ground, crashing into a concrete wall before exploding and being engulfed in flames.

Officials believe the landing gear failure, possibly due to a bird strike, may have caused the accident. They began an on-site investigation to determine the exact cause.

 The South Jeolla authorities raised emergency alerts to the highest levels and deployed all available rescue and police personnel to the accident site.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok arrived at the crash site around noon, instructing officials to make all-out efforts for search operations. Choi also expressed deep condolences to the bereaved family members and promised to offer them all possible government assistance.

The presidential office convened an emergency meeting of top secretaries earlier in the day to discuss government responses to the accident.

Presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk presided over the meeting and the office reported the details of the meeting's outcome to the acting president, the office said.

Acting National Police Agency Commissioner-General Lee Ho-young also ordered officials to mobilize all available resources and work with firefighting and other related agencies to help with the rescue efforts.

Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae issued an apology and extended condolences to the family members who lost their loved ones, vowing to provide all necessary support to the victims' families.

"Regardless of the cause, I take full responsibility as the CEO," Kim said. (Yonhap)