A plane carrying 181 passengers has crashed at an airport in South Korea, killing at least 47 people, the country’s fire service has said.
The aircraft came off the runway and crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport in the south west of the country, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The Jeju Air plane, which was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members, was reportedly flying back from Bangkok in Thailand and the accident took place while it was landing.
Two people have been found alive so far and rescue operations were still under way, a fire official told the Reuters news agency.
Emergency services were attempting to rescue people in the tail section of the aircraft, an airport official said.
The passengers on board included 173 South Koreans and two Thais, Yonhap reports.
The cause of the crash is still not known, but local media reported it may have been caused by birds getting caught in the plane’s systems.
Reuters/YonhapUnverified footage uploaded to social media shows the aircraft skidding off the runway and crashing into a wall, before part of it bursts into flames.
Other footage shows a large plume of black smoke rising into the sky.
One flight attendant and one passenger have been rescued so far, South Korea’s fire agency said in a statement, adding that 80 firefighters and more than 30 fire trucks had been deployed to the crash site.
EPA
