SEOUL: The death toll of the plane crash mounted to 62 after the airliner careened off the runway and erupted into a fireball as it ran into a wall at South Korea’s Muan International Airport on Sunday, according to Yonhap news agency.
The crash occurred as Jeju Air flight 7C2216, carrying 175 passengers and six crew on a flight from the Thai capital Bangkok, was landing shortly after 9am (0000 GMT) at the airport in the south of the country, South Korea’s transport ministry said.
At least 33 bodies have been recovered but that number is not final, a fire official earlier told Reuters.
Two people were found alive and rescue operations were still under way, a Muan fire official said. Yonhap said three people had been rescued.
Authorities were working to rescue people in the tail section, an airport official told Reuters.
Video shared by local media showed the twin-engine aircraft skidding down the runway with no apparent landing gear before slamming into a wall in an explosion of flame and debris. Other photos showed smoke and fire engulfing parts of the plane.
The passengers included two Thai nationals, and the rest are believed to be South Koreans, according to the transportation ministry.
The plane was a Boeing 737-800 jet operated by Jeju Air, was seeking details of the accident, including its casualties and cause, an airline spokesperson said.
Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who was named interim leader of the country on Friday after the previous acting president was impeached amid an ongoing political crisis, ordered all-out rescue efforts, his office said.
“All related agencies… must mobilise all available resources to save the personnel,” he instructed officials in a statement.
A Jeju Air spokesperson said the airline was checking the reports.
This is a developing story and is being updated with further details.
