At least 85 people were killed in a plane crash at a South Korean airport on Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported.
A Jeju Air plane carrying 175 passengers and six crew members skidded off the runway and hit a wall at South Korea's Muan International Airport, the agency said.
At least two people, one a passenger and one a crew member, survived, firefighters said.
A Muan airport official said the emergency was lifted and the fire that broke out as a result of the accident was extinguished.
BREAKING: New video shows moment Boeing 737-800 plane carrying 181 people onboard crashes at Muan International Airport in South Korea.
— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) December 29, 2024
The crash was reportedly caused by a malfunction in the plane's landing gear.
The plane was returning from Thailand and the accident occurred while landing at the airport, which is located 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
A spokesman for Jeju Air said the ill-fated plane was a Boeing 737-800.
The incident came at a time when South Korea is witnessing a major political crisis resulting from President Yoon Suk-yeol's imposition of martial law and subsequent impeachment measures.
🚨 #BREAKING: A Boeing 737 carrying 175 passengers has just crashed in South Korea, resulting in a MASSIVE fireball
Rescue efforts are currently underway. Cause is unknown.
Jeju Airlines Flight 2216 was on approach to Muan International Airport from Bangkok pic.twitter.com/TwnPIG2VJd
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 29, 2024
Last Friday, South Korean lawmakers removed and suspended Acting President Han Duck-soo, and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mook took over as interim president.
Choi ordered officials to use all available resources to rescue the passengers and crew of the plane, according to Yonhap.
"Rescue teams continue to search the wreckage where more bodies remain inside the fuselage. Two survivors, one passenger and one crew member, were pulled from the tail section," The Guardian Said.
"Witnesses reported hearing loud “bang” noise before the aircraft struck the airport’s wall," it added.
South Korea’s MBC TV has released Footage appearing to show an Explosion, possibly a Bird Strike, in the Right-Wing Engine of Jeju Air Flight 2216, right before it Crashed earlier at Muan International Airport in South Korea. pic.twitter.com/Vsy23dmuFZ
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) December 29, 2024
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