SEOUL: A devastating plane crash at South Korea’s Muan International Airport claimed at least 124 lives on Sunday, as an airliner landed without deploying its landing gear, veered off the runway, and collided with a wall, triggering a fiery explosion, according to the national fire agency.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from Bangkok, Thailand, carried 181 people and was attempting to land shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), the transport ministry reported. The crash marks the deadliest aviation disaster involving a South Korean airline in nearly 30 years.
Video footage showed the twin-engine Boeing 737-800 sliding down the runway without visible landing gear before crashing into a wall in a massive explosion of flames and debris, Reuters said.
Other images revealed thick smoke and fire consuming large parts of the aircraft.
Two crew members, a man and a woman, were rescued from the plane’s tail section, Muan fire chief Lee Jung-hyun said during a briefing. The fire was fully extinguished by 1 p.m., he added.
“Only the tail section retains some form, while the rest of the plane is almost unrecognizable,” Lee noted.
Rescue efforts have shifted to recovery operations, with authorities searching surrounding areas for bodies that may have been ejected due to the impact.
The two crew members are being treated for moderate to severe injuries at local hospitals, according to the head of the regional health center.
(Inputs from Reuters)
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