At least 85 people have been killed when a passenger plane caught fire after skidding off a runway and crashing at an airport in South Korea’s Muan city, the country’s National Fire Agency said.
The accident occurred on Sunday at 9.03am local time (00:03 GMT) as the Jeju Air flight, carrying 175 passengers and six crew from the Thai capital Bangkok, was landing at Muan International Airport in the southwest of the country.
The National Fire Agency confirmed that 85 people – 46 women and 39 men – have been killed, and two people have been rescued – both crew members. The fire that engulfed the plane has been extinguished, the agency said.
Citing fire agency officials, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said that hopes are fading for survivors.
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Seoul in South Korea, said a major rescue operation was under way at the airport, which is located about 289km (179 miles) southwest of the capital.
“This was a flight returning overnight from Bangkok. There seems to have been some kind of malfunction with the landing gear and images which have been on the media here do appear to show the plane landing on its belly, skidding along the runway, followed then by a huge explosion,” McBride said.
