At least 85 people were killed when a passenger plane crashed and caught fire after skidding off the runway at Muan International Airport in South Korea on Sunday morning.
The accident occurred at 9:03 am local time (00:03 GMT), involving a Jeju Air flight that had just arrived from Bangkok, Thailand, carrying 175 passengers and six crew members.
The Boeing 737-800 jet, which was attempting to land in Muan, reportedly encountered a malfunction in its landing gear.
Eyewitnesses and media footage show the aircraft making a belly landing on the runway before skidding and erupting into a catastrophic fire. A series of explosions followed, sending thick black smoke into the sky.
South Korea’s National Fire Agency confirmed that 85 people, including 46 women and 39 men, perished in the blaze.
Two survivors, a crew member and a passenger, were rescued, but hopes for finding more survivors are fading. The fire has since been extinguished, but the scale of the damage has left little chance for recovery.
The plane was primarily carrying South Korean passengers, with two believed to be Thai nationals. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has expressed condolences to the victims’ families, and an investigation is underway to determine whether any Thai nationals were involved.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, with one leading theory suggesting a bird strike may have caused a malfunction in the landing gear.
Reports indicate that a passenger sent a final text to a relative saying, “Should I say my last words?” before the crash.
The South Korean government, including Acting President Choi Sang-mok, has mobilised all available resources for rescue efforts at the scene. The airline, Jeju Air, expressed deep regret and promised to cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation.
This tragedy marks the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, a major low-cost carrier in South Korea, which had previously avoided any major incidents.
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