At least 122 people have died and two have been rescued after a plane accident that took place early this Sunday (at one in the morning in Spain) at the Muan International Airport, a southwestern city in South Korea, when a plane left the runway. plane with 181 people on board and crash into a fence.
Most of the deceased were in the back of the plane, in which the bulk of the passengers – except for two Thais – were of Korean nationality. For now, two people have been rescued -a passenger and a crew member- and the death toll is expected to rise in the coming hours.
In fact, the country’s authorities presume the death of all the occupants of the plane at the time of the accident, with the exception of the two rescued people – who are being treated in a hospital in Mokpo -, which would raise the total number of deaths to 179.
The accident occurred around 9:07 a.m. (local time) this Sunday during a landing maneuver of a Jeju Air flight from Bangkok carrying 175 passengers and six crew members, according to police and fire sources cited by the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The initial hypotheses suggest that the collision It could have been caused by a failure of the landing gear, probably caused by a bird strike. against the aircraft, which was engulfed in flames as a result of the accident.
He pilot would have unsuccessfully attempted a forced landing and, having failed to reduce the plane’s speed before reaching the end of the runway, it crashed into the structures on the outer edge of the airport, starting a fire. This was extinguished about 43 minutes after its start, although by then the plane was practically destroyed.
In the absence of a confirmed explanation, the country’s authorities have initiated a field research to clarify the exact causes of the incident, of which until now no further details have emerged.
Along the same lines, the acting president of the country, Choi Sang Mok, who has traveled to the site of the accident, has ordered the authorities to carry out “all possible efforts” in rescue operations and has promised that “the Government will spare no effort to support grieving families.
For its part, the presidential office has called for a meeting at 11:30 a.m. this Sunday. emergency meeting of senior officials to discuss the Government’s responses to the plane crash. Meanwhile, a team of approximately 80 firefighters continues to conduct search and rescue operations.
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