96 people killed as Aircraft carrying 175 passengers, 6 crew members crashes
Scores of people were killed on Sunday when a passenger jet crash-landed at an airport in southwestern South Korea, with the aircraft careening down the runway on its belly before bursting into flames.
At least 96 people have been confirmed dead so far, according to the local fire department. Two people, both crew members, were pulled alive from the crash site however rescuers have warned there is little hope of finding further survivors.
Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 from Bangkok was carrying 175 passengers and six crew when disaster struck at the airport in Muan county, just after 9 a.m. local time Sunday (7 p.m. ET Saturday). The accident was caused by a landing gear malfunction, officials said.
Footage of Sunday’s crash broadcast by multiple South Korean news outlets showed the plane sliding on its belly at high speed, hitting an earthen embankment and erupting in a fireball.
Neither the back nor front landing gear was visible in the footage – broadcast by networks including YTN, JTBC and MBC – as smoke poured from the back of the sliding aircraft.
Firefighters were later seen using water cannons to extinguish the blazing wreckage of the aircraft, which was listed as a Boeing 737-800 on flight-tracking site FlightAware. Several parts of the aircraft were also seen strewn across the runway.
Firefighters and rescue team members work on the runway of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Lee Young-ju/Newsis via AP)
The victims include 47 males, 48 females, and one child whose gender could not be determined, according to the South Jeolla Fire Service. Both of the survivors were crew members, one male and one female, according to the rescue team.
