A plane carrying 181 people on board has exploded after crashing at Muan International Airport in South Korea.
At least 62 of the 175 passengers and six crew are reportedly dead after Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 erupted into flames on landing, which comes after the horrifying Azerbaijan tragedy as a packed passenger jet crashed in ball of flames on Christmas Day.
In horrifying video from the crash in Jeollanam-do, the southernmost province in mainland Korea, the plane is seen skidding on the runway before hitting airport structures and exploding in a fireball.
Worrying photos from the scene show a huge plume of black smoke rising into the air and an inferno raging from the Boeing 737.
A possible bird strike meant the landing gear of the Jeju Air flight failed to deploy properly, forcing the pilots to abort before going round again to attempt a belly landing.
Two people were found alive as the rescue mission began, according to Yonhap, but sadly mass casualties are feared.
Emergency services received the call at 9am local time and authorities are now working to rescue 23 people trapped in the tail section.
“We have so far confirmed 29 deaths from the crash,” said Lee Hyeon-ji, aresponse team officer at the local fire department.
“But the tally could rise due to the critically injured.”
Acting President Choi Sung-mok, who was only named interim leader of South Korea on Friday after his predecessor was impeached, has ordered an all-out rescue effort.
Choi arrived at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters in Seoul at 9.50am before departing for the crash shite, which is 300km from the capital.
It comes after Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijan’s president after the downing of a commercial airline over Russia that left 38 dead.
The plane took off at Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku on Wednesday when it turned towards Kazakhstan and crashed while making an attempt to land.
The Kremlin said the “tragic incident” occurred as air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, in response to a Ukrainian drone strike.
On Friday, a US official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon.
Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital development and transportation, told Azerbaijani media that “preliminary conclusions by experts point at external impact,” as does witness testimony.
Passengers and crew from the 29 who survived the crash said they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.
Source : https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/158783/Muan-Airport-Jeollana-South-Korea-crash
