Photos| Flying debris and dozens of victims… 120 dead in a South Korean plane fire

At least 120 people were killed after a passenger plane caught fire on Sunday, after it skidded off the runway at an airport in southern South Korea and collided with a concrete wall due to a defect that prevented the operation of the front landing gear, officials said, in one of the worst air disasters in the country.
The National Fire Agency said that rescuers rushed to extract people from the Jeju Air plane, which was carrying 181 people, at the airport in the city of Muan, which is located about 290 kilometers south of Seoul.

High number of victims

The Ministry of Transport stated that the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 and said that the accident occurred at 03:9 am local time (0030 GMT).
The agency reported that at least 96 people – 48 women and 47 men – died in the fire.

The gender of not one of the victims has been verified yet, according to the agency.
Rescue workers were able to remove two people from the plane, both crew members, and they are in a conscious state.
The fire agency added that it sent 32 fire trucks and a number of helicopters to control the fire.

South Korea plane accident

The plane had left Bangkok, Thailand, heading to Muan International Airport in Muan Town, South Jeolla Province, 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul.