Families mourn after South Korea plane crash

The holiday trip to Thailand was supposed to be a celebration for Maeng Gi-Su’s niece and her two nephews, who were marking the end of their college entrance exams.

Instead, it ended tragically when all three died in a Jeju Air flight that crashed in South Korea on Sunday morning, killing 179 of the 181 people on board.

“I can’t believe the whole family just disappeared,” Maeng, 78, told the BBC.

“My heart hurts so much.”

The family was traveling on flight 7C2216 from Bangkok to Muan International Airport, which skidded off the runway after touching down. it crashed into the wall shortly after 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT) on Sunday.

All passengers of the Boeing 737-800 died, making it the world’s worst accident in South Korea.

Four workers were among the victims, while two were rescued alive from the accident.

The 179 passengers are aged between three and 78, although most were in their 40s, 50s and 60s, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. Two Thai nationals are among the dead and others are believed to be South Koreans, authorities said.

Five of the dead were children under the age of ten, while the youngest passenger, a boy, was only three years old.

One man in his 60s said five of his family members spanning three generations were on the plane, including his sister-in-law, his daughter, her husband and their young children, according to Yonhap news agency.

Many passengers were celebrating the Christmas holidays in Thailand and are returning home.

A cousin of one victim, Jongluk Doungmanee, told BBC Thai he was “shocked” when he heard the news.

“I had goosebumps. I couldn’t believe it,” said Pornphichaya Chalermsin.

She had spent more than two weeks in Thailand visiting her family and traveling in the northern city of Chiang Mai with her husband.

The 71-year-old father, Jeon Je-young, told Reuters news agency that his daughter Mi-Sook, who was identified by fingerprints, was on her way home after going with her friends to Bangkok for the festivities.

“My daughter, who is only 40 years old, ended up like this,” he said, adding that he last saw her on December 21 when he brought her food and a calendar for the coming year to her home – that will be theirs. last moment together.

Mi-Sook leaves behind a husband and a teenage daughter.

“This is unbelievable,” said Jeon.

Another woman said her sister, who was having a hard time, went to Thailand as her life started to improve.

“He had a lot of difficulties and he didn’t go because his condition was getting better,” he told Yonhap news agency.

The two crew members who survived the crash were found near the tail of the plane, which was part of the wreckage.

Another was a 33-year-old man, surnamed Lee, who was taken to a hospital in Mokpo, about 25 kilometers (15.5 mi) south of the airport, but was later transferred to Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital in the capital, Yonhap said. the news agency reported.

“When I woke up, I was saved,” he told the doctors at the hospital, according to its director Ju Woong, who spoke during a press conference.

The survivor, who suffered multiple fractures, receives special care because of the risk of side effects, including total paralysis, Ju said.

Another survivor, a 25-year-old female flight attendant surnamed Koo, was treated at Asan Medical Center in eastern Seoul, Yonhap added.

He suffered head and ankle injuries but is reported to be in stable condition.

It is not yet known exactly what caused the tragedy, but several eyewitnesses said they saw that the plane was in trouble before it crashed.

Restaurant owner Im Young-Hak said at first he thought it was an oil truck accident.

“I went outside and saw thick, black smoke. After that, I heard a big explosion, not from the explosion itself. Then there were more explosions – at least seven,” he told Reuters.

“We feel bad when accidents happen on the other side of the world, but this happened right here. It’s traumatic.”

Yoo Jae-yong, 41, who lived near the airport, told reporters that he saw a spark on the right side just before the crash.

Kim Yong-cheol, 70, said the plane failed to land and circled to try again.

He added that he saw “black smoke billowing into the sky” after hearing a “huge explosion”, Yonhap agency reported.

Another firefighter sent to the scene told Reuters he had never seen anything “on this scale”.

BBC reporters on the ground said the sounds of family members crying could be heard at the funeral on Sunday evening, while others were angry at how long it was taking to identify the bodies.

Hundreds remain at the Muan International Airport waiting for their relatives to be identified.

Some have given officials saliva samples to help identify the bodies, and the government has provided funeral services and temporary housing 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 – not least the cause of the accident, and whether it could have been avoided.

“The water near the airport is shallow,” Jeon told Reuters.

“(There are) softer fields than this cement runway. Why couldn’t the pilot get there?”

His daughter Mi-Sook was close to home, so he saw no reason to call and leave a last message, he says.

“He was still at home – he thought he would come home”.

Additional Reporting by BBC Thai’s Thanyaporn Buathong