فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
The death toll from the crash of a Jeju Air plane, which occurred Sunday during its landing at Muan Airport in southwestern Korea, has risen to 174, according to the Yonhap news agency.
The accident of flight JJA-2216 took place on Sunday at 09:03 local time (00:03 GMT). The aircraft, a Boeing 737-8AS, was carrying 181 people, including six crew members, between the Thai capital Bangkok and Muan, located about 290 kilometers south of Seoul.
“As of 17:26 (local time), authorities had reported 174 confirmed deaths in the accident. Teams are continuing body recovery operations,” Yonhap reports.
Firefighters had previously stated that the two survivors extracted from the plane’s wreckage were crew members. They were initially treated at separate hospitals in Mokpo before being transferred to Seoul, according to Yonhap, which specifies that their injuries are not life-threatening.
“The cause of the accident is presumed to be a bird strike combined with adverse weather conditions. However, the exact cause will be announced following an investigation,” said Lee Jeong-hyun, Muan’s fire chief, during a press briefing.
“Passengers were ejected from the plane during the collision with a barrier, which left them little chance of survival,” a local fire official said during a meeting with victims’ families. “The plane is almost completely destroyed, and identifying the deceased is proving difficult,” he added.
A video broadcast by local channel MBC shows the aircraft landing with smoke escaping from the engines before hitting a wall at the end of the runway and being engulfed in flames.
Images broadcast by Korean television channels show numerous emergency service vehicles and dozens of firefighters working around the completely burned aircraft wreckage, except for the tail, and evacuating bodies wrapped in blue shrouds on stretchers.
The passengers on board were of Korean nationality, except for two Thai nationals, according to local authorities.
This air accident is the deadliest in the country’s history and marks the first fatal incident for Jeju Air, one of Korea’s main low-cost airlines, founded in 2005.
