Plane crash in South Korea kills 179 people. There are two survivors

South Korean authorities estimate that 179 people died this Sunday morning after a Jeju Air plane crashed at Muan airport, in southwestern South Korea.

According to South Korean public news agency Yonhap, emergency teams managed to rescue two survivorsa crew member and a passenger, from the plane that had 181 people on board.

In the videos circulating it is possible to see that the plane tried to land without landing gear.

The plane was “almost completely destroyed” and passengers and crew were “little chance of surviving”said the firefighters.

Terrible accident today involving a Jeju Airlines Boeing 737-800 in South Korea. After landing on its belly, the Boeing collided and exploded. There were 175 people on board.

— Today in the Military World (@hoje_no)

“The passengers were ejected from the plane when it collided with a barrier, leaving them with little chance of survival,” said a local firefighter, during a meeting with the victims’ families.

“The plane is almost completely destroyed and identifying the deceased is proving difficult,” he added.

The plane, with 175 passengers and six crew members on board, crashed at around 9:07 am (00:07 am in Lisbon) while landing at the airport in the city of Muan, in the south of South Korea, about 290 kilometers from the capital, Seoul.

According to police and firefighters, the plane, a Boeing 737-8AS coming from Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, collided with a concrete fence and caught fire.

Airport authorities said the plane was attempting a forced landing after a first attempt failed due to a landing gear failure, forcing it to land “on your belly”.

However, the plane would not have been able to reduce speed until it reached the end of the runway, which caused the collision with the fence and the fire.

Tragedy at Muan International Airport, in South Korea: a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800, with 175 passengers and 6 crew, left the runway and collided with a wall on Sunday (29), Saturday night in Brazil. According to information from Reuters, 28 deaths have been confirmed. …

— Fernando Martins (@aeroportoonline)

Muan fire department chief Lee Jeong-hyun said the crash was likely due to a collision with a bird, combined with adverse weather conditions.

The country’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, ordered all possible efforts to be made in rescue operations following the accident.

Thailand’s Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed in a statement the presence of two citizens on the plane and said the country is in contact with Seoul.

Nikorndej Balankura urged the families of these two citizens to call the Thai embassy in Seoul to receive more information.

The last time South Korea suffered a large-scale air disaster was in 1997, when a plane belonging to the South Korean airline Korean Airline crashed in the US territory of Guam, killing all 228 people on board.