In South Korea, a plane catches fire on landing, killing at least 120 people

At the scene of the accident, at Muan International Airport (South Korea), December 29, 2024. YONHAP / AFP A passenger plane suffered an accident when landing at Muan airport, in southwest of South Korea, killing at least 120 people, Sunday December 29, according to the latest updated report. For now, only two survivors, both members of the crew, have been identified by the firefighters. The authorities fear a much higher toll, the plane carrying 175 passengers and six crew members. “The cause of the accident is presumed to be a collision with birds combined with adverse weather conditions. However, the exact reason will be announced after a joint investigation,” Lee Jeong-hyun, head of the Muan Fire Station, said at a press briefing. According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, the Jeju Air plane, which was arriving from Bangkok, landed on its belly shortly after 9 a.m. due to a possible gear malfunction. landing. A video broadcast by South Korean media shows the aircraft – a Boeing 737-8AS put into service in 2009, according to the specialized site Flightradar – then colliding head-on with a concrete wall on the periphery of the installation, and be immediately engulfed in flames. “Little chance of survival” Numerous emergency service vehicles and dozens of firefighters worked around the carcass of the plane, completely charred except for the tail, and evacuated wrapped bodies on stretchers in blue shrouds. “The passengers were ejected from the plane when it collided with a barrier, leaving them with little chance of survival,” a local fire official said during a meeting with the victims’ families. “The plane is almost completely destroyed and the identification of the deceased is proving difficult,” he added. All passengers were South Korean, except for two people of Thai nationality. After the accident, domestic and international flights to and from Muan Airport, located nearly 290 kilometers from Seoul, were canceled. Acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok called an emergency government meeting and asked to use all available resources to save the passengers and crew. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In South Korea, political chaos intensifies with the disputed dismissal of the interim president Read later This incident comes as the country is plunged into a serious political crisis triggered by the attempted unexpected imposition of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was later impeached. South Korean lawmakers on Friday also impeached incumbent President Han Duck-soo and suspended him from office, leaving Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok to take over as president. of the State. According to Yonhap, the latter is on his way to the scene of the accident. Le Monde Memorable Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Discover “Jeju Air will do everything in its power to deal with this accident. We offer our sincere apologies,” the company wrote in a statement published Sunday on its social networks. Rare accidents in South Korea This is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of the largest South Korean low-cost airlines, founded in 2005. On August 12, 2007, a Jeju Air Bombardier Q400 carrying 74 passengers went off the runway in strong winds at Busan-Gimhae airport, in the south of the country, causing around ten minor injuries. Plane accidents are very rare in South Korea. In May 2023, a passenger opened an emergency exit of an Asiana Airlines Airbus A321-200 about to land at Daegu Airport in the southeast of the country. The aircraft was able to land normally, but several people were hospitalized. At the scene of the accident, at Muan International Airport (South Korea), December 29, 2024. MAENG DAE-HWAN / AP The most serious plane accident to take place in South Korea remains the crash on a hill near Busan-Gimhae airport of an Air China Boeing 767 coming from Beijing, which left 129 dead on April 15, 2002. Before that on Sunday, the latest fatal accident at a South Korean airline was that of an Asiana Boeing 777 which missed its landing at the San Francisco airport in California, killing three people and injuring 182, the July 6, 2013. And the deadliest disaster for a South Korean company remains that of a Korean Air Boeing 747 connecting New York to Seoul via Anchorage (Alaska), which was shot down by a Soviet fighter above from the Sea of ​​Japan, causing the death of 246 passengers and twenty-three crew members on September 1, 1983. Le Monde with AP and AFP Reuse this content



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