Latest plane crash in South Korea: 179 people die in the Jeju Air tragedy, their families mourn at Muan International Airport

Cousin of Thai citizen on fatal flight ‘sad and shocked’published at 12:58 Greenwich Mean Time

Thanyaporn Buathong
BBC Thai Service

A Thai lady stands on a bridge in a green sweater and dark pants, with medium length hair, with red and pink trees and a stream in the background — caption,

Mother-of-two Jongluk Doungmanee was on board the plane that crashed at Muan Airport

The cousin of a Thai passenger, 49-year-old Jongluk Doungmanee, who was aboard the fatal Jeju Air flight, says she is “sad” and “shocked”.

Pornphichaya Chalermsin from Nong Wua So District, Udon Thani, says her cousin Jongluk is a mother of two children, aged 7 and 15, and has been living in South Korea for five years, where she lives with her Korean husband, whom she married working in agriculture three years ago.

In an interview with BBC Thai, she said she had “only seen such news from other countries and never thought it would be about Thais,” adding: “Watching the video footage made me even more disturbed.”

“I was shocked, I had goosebumps. I couldn’t believe it… when the news said one of the victims was from Udon Thani, I was even more surprised.”

Before her flight on Jeju Air Flight 7C2216, Joungluk had spent over two weeks in Thailand visiting her family and was traveling with her husband in Chiang Mai. Her husband had already returned to South Korea before she left.

For context, we have received confirmation that 179 people died on board the flight and two crew members were rescued. According to the Thai Foreign Ministry, the deaths of two Thai women on the flight have been confirmed. A total of 88 victims have been identified so far