Consternation among relatives of the victims of the plane crash in South Korea: “I am left alone with my younger sister”

While the authorities try to rescue all the bodies, hundreds of relatives of the victims gather in dismay in the airport terminal waiting for news. The whiteboards normally used to report flight arrivals and departures now appear names, dates of birth and nationalities of the deceased passengers.

A woman had to be carried on a stretcher, apparently fainting from shock. «I had a son on board that plane… He has not yet been identified»an elderly man who was in the airport waiting room and who asked not to be identified, told AFP.

All passengers on the Jeju Air flight from Bangkok, Thailand, were Koreans, except two Thais. According to authorities, the youngest passenger was a three-year-old child and the oldest was a 78-year-old person. Five of the deceased were under 10 years old.

Cries and screams echo across both floors of Muan airport as the names and identities of the victims are confirmed. Many of them returned to their homes after the winter vacation.

«my little sister “He went to heaven today,” a 65-year-old woman who only gave her last name, Jo, told AFP. His relative had been on vacation in Bangkok with his friends. “My husband is trying to check if she has been identified,” she added.

A woman recently recovered from cancer, one of the victims

Little by little, heartbreaking stories of the victims are emerging. One of them was 50 years old and had just recovered from a stomach cancerafter a year of fighting the disease. To celebrate, precisely, he went on a trip to Thailand with his friends, as reported by the South Korean media ‘Chosun Ilbo’.

His two children, ages 22 and 15, were at the airport. «My mother was very thin while receiving cancer treatment and that image still remains in my mind», the eldest of them told the aforementioned media.

Tragedy shakes the two brothers for the second time, who lost their father, separated from their mother, about 2 or 3 years ago. «I’m left alone with my little sister, I’m in high school, and I don’t know what to do with my future. “I’m thinking about leaving the university I attend,” he said.

The last message: “Should I leave a will?”

In addition, the local media have echoed a heartbreaking screenshot with the last exchange of messages between a passenger and his children. «Wait, a bird is stuck in the wing. Impossible to land now… Should I leave a will? », reads the text, sent at 9:01 in the morning.

«Why can’t I make a call with you?», responds a son to the message, sent at 9:37 a.m. and which his father never read.

Some family members have shared their stories online. A user has reported that his mother and his five aunts were traveling on the plane. “They told me that they would arrive around 8:50 in the morning today, so I came to the airport to pick them up, but I haven’t heard anything from them,” he declared anguished to the local media.

The impact of a bird against the plane, the main hypothesis of the accident

This Sunday’s plane crash in South Korea is the deadliest on South Korean soil and the worst in years in which the country’s airlines have been involved.

It all happened in a matter of minuteswhen Jeju Air Flight 2216 was attempting to land. The control tower warned of a bird strike and shortly after the pilot gave the call for “help”. The authorities have reported that the impact of the bird is the main cause of the accident that is being considered.

A video shows how the Jeju Air plane landed at Muan International Airport, skidded off the runway while smoke came out of the enginesand ended up crashing into a wall, then bursting into flames.

“The passengers were ejected from the aircraft after hitting the wall, which left them little chance of survival», a local firefighter informed the families in an information meeting. Only two people have been rescued alive, both flight attendants.