179 dead as plane with 181 on board crashes in South Korea - VIDEO/UPDATED

A passenger jet carrying 181 people erupted in flames after going off the runway and hitting a wall at an airport in South Korea's southwestern county of Muan on Sunday, likely leaving all but two dead, authorities said, News.az reports citing Yonhap news agency.

The accident happened at 9:07 a.m., when the Jeju Air flight veered off the runway while landing and collided with a fence wall at Muan International Airport in the Muan county, South Jeolla Province, about 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul.

Except the two rescued from the accident, all the missing people are presumed to have been killed, firefighting authorities said, adding that they were switching to search operations to recover bodies.

The authorities confirmed 85 deaths from the accident so far.

One passenger and one crew member -- both women -- were rescued shortly after the accident and were being treated at a hospital in Mokpo.



At least 28 people were dead on Sunday after an airliner went off the runway and crashed at South Korea's Muan International Airport, News.az reports citing Yonhap news agency.

The accident occurred as the Jeju Air plane, carrying 175 passengers and six crew on a flight from Thailand, was landing at the airport in the south of the country, the report said.

Two people were found alive as the rescue mission was continuing, according to Yonhap.

Authorities were working to rescue people in the tail section, an airport official told Reuters.

Photos shared by local media showed smoke and flame engulfing parts of the plane.

Acting President Choi Sung-mok, who was named interim leader of the country on Friday after the previous acting president was impeached amid an ongoing political crisis, ordered all-out rescue efforts, his office said.

A Jeju Air spokesperson said the airline was checking the reports.

179 dead as plane with 181 on board crashes in #SouthKorea #planecrash pic.twitter.com/A8IOmCupk0

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