BBC
Maeng Gi-su says three family members were on board flight
A festive trip to Thailand was supposed to be a celebration for Maeng Gi-Su’s nephew and his nephew’s two sons, who were marking the end of their university entrance exams.
Instead, it ended in tragedy when all three died on the Jeju Air plane that crashed Sunday morning in South Korea, killing 179 of the 181 people on board.
“I can’t believe the whole family is gone,” Maeng, 78, told the BBC.
“My heart hurts so much.”
The family were among those on board flight 7C2216 which crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport shortly after 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT) on Sunday.
All passengers traveling aboard the Boeing 737-800 died, making it the deadliest plane crash on South Korean soil.
Four crew members died, while two were rescued alive from the wreckage.
The 179 passengers ranged in age from three to 78, although most were between 40, 50 and 60, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. Two Thai nationals were among the dead and the others were believed to be South Koreans, authorities said.
Five of the deceased were children under the age of 10, while the youngest passenger, a little boy, was just three years old.
A man in his 60s said five members of his family, spanning three generations, were on the plane, including his sister-in-law, her daughter, her husband and their young children, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Many passengers were celebrating the Christmas holidays in Thailand and returning home.
The cousin of one of the victims, Jongluk Doungmanee, told the BBC she was “shocked” when she heard the news.
“I had goosebumps. I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Jongluk had spent more than two weeks in Thailand visiting family and traveling to the northern city of Chiang Mai with her husband.
Reuters
Relatives of the victims are desperate for answers.
A 71-year-old father, Jeon Je-young, told Reuters news agency that his daughter Mi-Sook, identified by fingerprints, was returning home after traveling with friends to Bangkok for the festivities.
“My daughter, who is only in her 40s, ended up like this,” he said, adding that he last saw her on December 21, when she brought food and next year’s calendar at his house – which would become their last moment together.
Mi-Sook leaves behind a husband and a teenage daughter.
“It’s amazing,” Jeon said.
One woman said her sister, who was going through a difficult time, moved to Thailand as her life began to improve.
“She had so much difficulty and she went on the trip because her situation was just starting to improve,” she told Yonhap News Agency.
The two flight attendants who survived the crash were found in the tail of the plane, the most intact part of the wreckage.
One of them was a 33-year-old man, surnamed Lee, who was rushed to a hospital in Mokpo, about 25 km (15.5 mi) south of the airport, but was then transferred to Seoul’s Ewha Womans University Hospital in the capital, Yonhap. the news agency reported.
“When I woke up, I had already been rescued,” he told doctors at the hospital, according to its director Ju Woong, who spoke at a press briefing.
The survivor, who suffered multiple fractures, is receiving special care due to the risk of after-effects, including total paralysis, Ju said.
The other survivor, a 25-year-old flight attendant surnamed Koo, is being treated at Asan Medical Center in eastern Seoul, Yonhap added.
She was injured in the head and ankle, but is said to be in stable condition.
Reuters
Firefighters carry out extinguishing operations on the plane
It is not yet clear what caused the disaster, but a number of eyewitnesses claim to have seen that the plane was in difficulty before the accident.
Restaurant owner Im Young-Hak said he initially thought it was an oil tanker accident.
“I went out and saw thick, dark smoke. After that, I heard a loud explosion, which did not come from the accident itself. Then there were more explosions – at minus seven,” he told Reuters.
“We feel bad when accidents happen halfway around the world, but this happened right here. It’s traumatic.”
Yoo Jae-yong, 41, who was staying near the airport, told local media he saw a spark on the right wing shortly before the crash.
Kim Yong-cheol, 70, said the plane initially failed to land and turned around to try again.
He added that he saw “black smoke rising into the sky” after hearing a “loud explosion”, Yonhap news agency reported.
A firefighter dispatched to the scene told Reuters he had never seen anything “of this magnitude”.
Reuters
Family members of the deceased gather at Muan International Airport
BBC journalists on the ground said the cries of family members echoed through the terminal on Sunday evening, while others were angry at the time it was taking to identify the bodies.
Hundreds of people remain at Muan International Airport waiting for their loved ones to be identified.
Some gave saliva DNA samples to authorities to help them identify victims’ bodies, and the government offered funeral services and temporary accommodation to bereaved families.
A period of national mourning has also been declared for the next seven days.
But for all the loved ones of those who died, many questions remain, including what caused the accident and whether it could have been avoided.
“The water near the airport is not deep,” Jeon told Reuters.
“(There) are softer fields than this cement runway. Why couldn’t the pilot have landed there instead?”
His daughter Mi-Sook was almost home so saw no reason to call and leave a last message, he said.
“She was almost home – she thought she was going home.”
