A plane burst into flames after skidding off the runway at an airport in South Korea. At least 62 people were killed

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A passenger plane burst into flames Sunday after it veered off the runway of a South Korean airport and crashed into a concrete fence because its front landing gear apparently failed to extend. According to officials, at least 62 people were killed in one of the country’s worst air disasters.

The National Fire Agency said the fire was almost extinguished, but officials were still trying to pull people from the Jeju Air passenger plane carrying 181 people at the airport in the city of Muan, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Seoul.

At least 62 people – 37 women and 25 men – died in the fire, the agency said. Rescue workers pulled out two people – a passenger and a crew member. It said 32 fire engines and several helicopters were deployed to contain the fire.

Footage of the crash broadcast by television channel YTN showed the Jeju Air plane skidding down the runway, apparently with the landing gear still closed, and colliding head-on with a concrete wall on the edge of the facility. According to the Ministry of Transport, the incident occurred at 9:03 a.m. local time.

Local television stations broadcast footage showing thick clouds of black smoke rising from the plane, which was engulfed in flames.

A rescue team prepares for operations at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Maeng Dae-hwan

Rescue workers in Muan said they were investigating the cause of the fire. They said the plane’s landing gear appeared to have malfunctioned. The transport ministry said the plane was returning from Bangkok and two Thai nationals were among the passengers.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra expressed her gratitude to the families of those affected by the accident in a post on the social platform

It is one of the deadliest disasters in South Korean aviation history. The last time South Korea experienced a major aviation disaster was in 1997, when a Korean Airline plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board.

The incident came as South Korea was embroiled in a huge political crisis triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s surprise declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment. Last Friday, South Korean lawmakers impeached incumbent President Han Duck-soo and suspended him from office, allowing Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok to take over.

Choi ordered officials to use all available resources to rescue the passengers and crew before heading to Muan. Yoon’s office said his chief secretary, Chung Jin-suk, would chair an emergency meeting of senior presidential aides later on Sunday to discuss the crash.

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