South Korea: Plane carrying 181 passengers crashes while landing
At least 28 people were killed and many others were reported injured after a South Korean passenger plane carrying 181 people crashed at an airport in the southwest of the country on the morning of December 29, police and firefighters said, according to Yonhap news agency.
The accident occurred at 9:07 a.m. when the Jeju Air flight veered off the runway while landing and hit a fence at Musan International Airport in Muan County, about 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
Authorities confirmed 28 people died in the crash — all were found in the tail section of the plane — and the death toll is likely to rise. Two people were rescued.
The crash caused serious damage to the plane and resulted in a fire.
A total of 181 people, including six crew members, were on the flight back from Bangkok. Most of the passengers were South Korean, except for two Thai nationals.
Authorities have extinguished the initial fire and said search and rescue operations are underway at the scene of the accident.
They also initiated an on-site investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident.