Reuters reported on Sunday afternoon that South Korean Acting President and Finance Miniter Choi Sang-mok has arrived at the crash site.
At around 9:00am Sunday morning, a Jeju Air plane (flight 7C2216) carrying 175 passengers and six crew on a flight from the Thai capital Bangkok veered off the runway and erupted into a fireball as it slammed into a wall at South Korea’s Muan International Airport.
Video shared by local media showed the twin-engine aircraft skidding down the runway with no apparent landing gear before slamming into a wall and exploded.
At least 85 people were killed in the crash, according to officials from South Korea’s National Fire Agency and Transportation Ministry.
So far two people have been rescued and are reportedly the crew members of the flight.
Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra tweeted:
“I want to sent my condolences to the families of those who died and injured.
“I have instructed the foreign ministry to check whether there are Thai nationals on board, what the situation is now and to give assistance immediately,” adding that the family of Thai nationals on board will be notified and the Thai foreign ministry would keep them updated on the latest development.
Yonhap news agency cited airport authorities as saying the landing gear may have malfunctioned due to a bird strike.
A passenger texted a relative to say a bird was stuck in the wing. The person’s final message was, “Should I say my last words?”
A bird strike is among several theories that have not been verified, an official from the transport ministry’s aviation department said, adding that the investigation was ongoing.
