At least 176 people have died and three are missing, according to the latest official report, after the plane crash that occurred this Sunday in the southwest of South Korea, where a Jeju Air airline flight with 181 occupants crashed into a wall during a landing maneuver in the Muan International Airportabout 290 kilometers southwest of the capital, Seoul.
These are the keys and what is known about the accident:
The moment of the accident
What type of plane is it
The plane is a Boeing 737-800 from Bangkok (Thailand). The airline is Jeju Air, the country’s main low-cost company that operates in Asia, between South Korea, China, Japan, Russia or Thailand.
Passengers and nationalities
There were 175 passengers and six crew members on board.according to the flight manifest — a passenger of 82 men and 93 women aged between 3 and 78 years –. The latest balance details that 22 of the deceased have already been identified.
“After the plane hit the wall, the passengers were ejected. Chances of survival are extremely low“said an official from the Fire Department after the previous report collected, like this last one, by the South Korean state news agency Yonhap.
What caused the accident
The South Korean Ministry of Transportation has reported that the plane crew warned, five minutes before the accident, of a collision with a flock of birds that caused damage to the deviceunable to open its landing gear. The device touched down on its belly at around 09:03, local time, and He went off the track until he crashed into the outer wall. in a fireball extinguished by firefighters 43 minutes later, with the plane already practically destroyed.
Are there survivors?
At the moment, only two people have been rescued alive, so Korean authorities presume the death of all occupants of the plane at the time of the accident, which would give a death toll of 179.
The Most of the dead were in the back of the plane.in which the bulk of the passengers – except for two Thais – were of South Korean nationality. The two survivors are being treated at a hospital in Mokpo.
The sinister It is one of South Korea’s worst civil aviation disasters. In 1997, a Korean Airlines plane crashed on the island of Guam in an accident that claimed the lives of 229 people.
Reactions
The acting president of the country, Choi Sang Mokwho traveled to the scene of the accident after ordering the authorities to carry out “all possible efforts” in rescue operations and has promised that “the Government will spare no effort to support grieving families.
For its part, the CEO of the airline company Jeju AirKim E Bae, has issued a public apology and conveyed his condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased, assuming “all responsibility as CEO, regardless of the cause.” Kim, however, wanted to point out that the plane underwent regular maintenance and at no time did the controls show evidence of malfunction.
He Government of Spain has conveyed its condolences to South Korea: “Deeply shocked by the terrible plane accident at Muan airport,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in a statement published on his social network account X.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenexpressed the solidarity of the European Union to South Korea “in this moment of pain” for the accident: “It broke my heart to see the images of the plane crash in Muan. My deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the Republic of Korea as a whole. As your partner, Europe is with you in this moment of pain “Von der Leyen said in a message on your social networks.
Critical political moment
The accident also occurs at a critical political moment for the country, which is still in turmoil. following the failed declaration of martial law enacted earlier this month by former President Yoon Suk Yeoldeposed by Parliament.
Since then the country has known two more heads of state but the process is still far from over because the Constitutional Court still does not have the necessary judges to fully execute the dismissals.
