Wreckage completely destroyed
Automatically saved design
Following a crash landing, an airplane in South Korea has crashed and caught fire. After first responders found two survivors shortly after the accident, rescue workers fear that all other passengers and crew members are dead. There were 181 people on board.
The Boeing 737-8AS of the South Korean low-cost airline Jeju Air, which had arrived from the Thai capital Bangkok, overshot the runway shortly after 9.00 a.m. (local time) and crashed into a safety fence behind the runway. A video shown on South Korean television showed the plane skidding across the runway without its landing gear deployed, crashing at the end of the runway and bursting into flames.
Two flight attendants (a woman and a man) could have been rescued. According to the authorities, they are being treated in hospital for moderate to serious injuries.
Little hope for further survivors
So far, 151 fatalities have been confirmed, as reported by "The Korea Times". However, the fire department assumes that there are no more survivors, according to "Korea Joongang Daily". The wreckage was in such a state that it was hardly possible to find any more living people, it was explained at a press conference. The identification of the bodies is difficult.
The bodies recovered so far have been placed in a temporary morgue near the crash site, while the search for more victims is still underway.
Initial suspicions about the cause of the accident
The cause of the accident is still unclear, the airline announced. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft has not yet suffered any malfunctions. A bird strike could be the cause, the local fire department told Yonhap news agency. According to the South Korean Ministry of Transport, the tower warned the aircraft's pilots of a bird strike shortly before landing.
The fire was extinguished 43 minutes after the accident, according to "The Korea Times" Rescue workers searched for victims, including around the wreckage. The crash is the worst accident involving a South Korean airline since 1997, when a Korean Air plane crashed in Guam. More than 200 people lost their lives.
All other flights to and from Muan were canceled. The airport, which was opened in 2007 after ten years of construction, is located in the south-western province of Jeolla - just under 300 kilometers from the capital Seoul. Western airlines do not fly to the airport.
Airline asks for an apology
Jeju Air published a letter of apology online. "We deeply apologize to everyone affected by the incident at Muan Airport," the airline wrote on its website. Airline CEO Kim E-bae apologized for the crash. He said he would work with the authorities to investigate the accident. Supporting the bereaved has top priority. Boeing stated that it was in contact with Jeju Air and would be available for the investigation.
Jeju Air was founded in 2005. The airline offers numerous domestic connections as well as flights to Japan, Thailand and the Philippines. President Choi Sang-mok, who is only acting president in the midst of a national crisis in South Korea, ordered extensive rescue measures and went to the scene of the accident.
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