MUAN (South Korea): At least 28 people were dead and many others presumably injured after a South Korean passenger plane carrying 181 people crashed at an airport in the country’s southwest on Sunday, police and firefighters said.
Yonhap News Agency reported that, the accident happened at 9.07 am, when the Jeju Air flight veered off the runway while landing and collided with a fence at the Musan International Airport in the Muan county, about 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul.
Authorities confirmed 28 people died in the crash – all of whom were found at the tail section – with the casualties likely to increase. Two have been rescued.
The crash significantly damaged the plane, resulting in a fire.
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.
Authorities have extinguished the initial fire and said that search and rescue operations were under way at the crash site.
They also began an on-site investigation to determine the exact cause of the crash. – BERNAMA-YONHAP
