A majority of the 181 passengers on board the South Korean plane that crashed appear to have lost their lives. According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing official reports, it is likely that all but two of the passengers died, with the two survivors being rescue personnel.
Initially, 124 fatalities were officially confirmed, and the search for the victims was ongoing. The plane was almost completely destroyed, making it difficult to identify the deceased, the fire department said. The process of recovering the remains is expected to take some time.
The plane involved in the accident was a Boeing 737-800 of Jeju Air, which was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members. It took off from Bangkok, Thailand, and was landing at the Muan International Airport in South Korea when it crashed at around 1 a.m. local time (9 a.m. German time) on Sunday morning.
The plane apparently attempted to land without its landing gear extended, and then slid along the ground before colliding with a concrete wall and bursting into flames. Authorities believe that the failure of the landing gear may have been caused by a bird strike, and an investigation has been launched.
Most of the passengers on board were Korean, with the exception of two Thai nationals. The two survivors are believed to be two female flight attendants who were rescued immediately after the crash, with their injuries reportedly not life-threatening.