Mourning for the victims of the South Korean plane crash: “The whole family just disappeared” | Newsworld

With no hope for survivors, the families of the victims of today’s plane crash in South Korea must come to terms with the devastating loss.

A total of 179 people died after Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 landed on its belly at Muan airport, slid into a concrete fence and burst into flames.

Only one man and one woman survived, both crew members. They were pulled from the inferno and are now being treated in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The man, a 33-year-old flight attendant, suffered multiple fractures, and the 25-year-old woman is said to have injured her ankle and head.

At the airport, family members of those who did not make it waited for the bodies of their loved ones to be identified.

Wailings could be heard as officials announced the names of some of them, while several yellow tents were set up to ensure people’s privacy.

All passengers on board the plane, which had flown from Bangkok, Thailand, were Korean, except for two Thais.

A man waiting at the airport, 78-year-old Maeng Gi-su, told the BBC that his nephew and his nephew’s two sons were on the plane.

They had traveled to Thailand to celebrate the youngest one passing his college entrance exams.

“I can’t believe the whole family just disappeared.” “My heart hurts so much,” said Mr. Gi-su.

Speaking to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, a woman who gave her surname Kim said her sister was on board the flight.

“She went through so many difficulties and went traveling because her situation was just starting to improve,” she added.

Another woman, a 68-year-old with the last name Jo, also lost her sister. “My younger sister went to heaven today,” she said.

Meanwhile, an elderly man who declined to give his name told a reporter: “I had a son on board that plane.”

In Thailand, a cousin of one of the Thai passengers, Jongluk Doungmanee, 49, said she was “sad” and “shocked.”

Pornphichaya chalermsin from Nong Wua So district, Udon Thani, said Jongluk is a mother of two children, aged seven and 15, and has been living in South Korea with her Korean husband for five years.

She and her husband had been traveling in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, with her husband for over two weeks. Her husband had already returned home when she boarded her flight.

In a televised news conference, Kim E-bae, president of budget airline Jeju Air, bowed deeply along with other senior company officials as he apologized to the bereaved and said he felt “fully responsible” for the incident.

Kim said the company had found no mechanical problems with the plane after regular checks and that he would await the results of government investigations into the cause of the incident.

A government official said air traffic control issued a bird strike warning that delayed the landing.

Two minutes later, around 9 a.m. local time, the pilot made a mayday call and was cleared to land from the opposite direction

Video footage shows the plane hitting the runway without wheels, skidding for a bit before hitting a wall, causing a fiery explosion.

According to authorities, the victims ranged in age from three to 78, with most passengers in their 30s, 40s or 50s.

The country declared seven days of national mourning starting Sunday and memorial altars are to be set up across the country.

It is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea’s largest low-cost airlines founded in 2005.

On August 12, 2007, a Bombardier Q400 operated by Jeju Air carrying 74 passengers veered off the runway due to high winds southern Busan-Gimhae Airport, resulting in a dozen injuries.

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