S. Korea suffers air tragedy with heavy casualties

SEOUL -- All the 179 people aboard a passenger jet that crashed while landing at an airport in southwest South Korea were confirmed dead except only two rescued, multiple media outlets said Sunday, citing the fire authorities.

The fire authorities were quoted as saying that the bodies of 179 victims were retrieved from the scene at 8:38 pm local time, with only two crew members being rescued.

It marked the worst air disaster in the country's modern history since 66 people were killed in a plane crash in 1993.

It was reported at about 9:03 am local time that the airplane with 175 passengers, including 173 South Koreans and two Thais, together with six flight attendants on board crashed while attempting to land at the Muan International Airport, some 290 km southwest of the capital Seoul.

The Jeju Air flight 7C2216 from Bangkok, Thailand landed without wheels, skidded off the runway and hit the outer wall of the runway, with its fuselage broken in half and catching fire.

Only two crew members were rescued at the rear of the ill-fated aircraft, most parts of which were severely damaged.

The fire authorities believed that a bird strike that led to landing gear failure may have caused the accident.

After making the first landing attempt, the aircraft went around into the air due to the estimated malfunctioning of landing gear and made the second landing attempt with a belly landing that resulted in the disaster.

TV footage showed a big plume of black smoke billowing out of the Boeing 737-800 engulfed by flames. Another footage showed an engine on the plane's right wing emitting smoke with flames before attempting to land.

An official with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said at a televised press briefing that the retrieval of both flight data and voice recorders was completed to look into the air disaster.

The transport ministry added that it may take at least months to years to figure out the exact cause of the accident.

South Korean acting President Choi Sang-mok on Sunday announced a week-long mourning period over the tragedy.

Choi said during a central disaster countermeasures meeting that the government will set seven days until midnight on Jan. 4 next year as the national mourning period while setting up joint memorial altars in 17 cities and provinces to express condolences to the victims.

He said civil servants in all ministries, local governments and public institutions will wear mourning ribbons during the period, vowing to thoroughly investigate the exact cause of the accident and take actions to prevent the recurrence of such a tragic accident.

Choi expressed deep condolences to the deceased and their bereaved families, declaring Muan county as a special disaster area to provide necessary support for the bereaved families and the injured.