28 Lives Lost in South Korean Airport Plane Crash
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Seoul, Dec 29 (NationPress) Tragically, 28 passengers lost their lives after a plane with more than 170 individuals on board caught fire during its landing at the airport in the southern city of Muan, South Korea, on Sunday, as reported by the emergency office.
The emergency office indicated that rescue teams were working diligently to evacuate passengers from the aircraft.
Local television channels broadcasted footage displaying thick clouds of black smoke rising from the aircraft, which was engulfed in flames.
The aircraft was identified as belonging to Jeju Air and was a Boeing 737-800.
This Jeju Air flight, which was transporting 175 passengers along with six flight attendants, was on its way back from Thailand when the incident occurred during landing, according to reports.
As the rescue operation continued, one individual was discovered alive, according to a report from Yonhap news agency.
The plane caught fire on Sunday at a southern South Korean airport after its landing gear malfunctioned.
According to Yonhap news agency, the Jeju Air flight veered off the runway and struck a fence while returning from Bangkok.
In a separate incident, an Embraer passenger jet crashed near Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday (Dec 25), resulting in 38 fatalities, after diverting from a region in Russia that has recently been defended against Ukrainian drone attacks.
There were 29 survivors who required medical attention.
A flight from Azerbaijan Airlines, designated as J2-8243, had diverted hundreds of miles off its planned route from Azerbaijan to Russia, ultimately crashing on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. This incident occurred following what Russia's aviation authority stated was an emergency situation that might have been triggered by a bird strike, though an aviation expert questioned this explanation.
Officials have not provided immediate clarification regarding the plane's deviation over the sea, but the crash transpired shortly after Ukrainian drone strikes targeted the Chechnya region in southern Russia this month. The nearest Russian airport on the flight's route was closed on Wednesday morning.
Kyiv has yet to acknowledge any strikes this month in the Chechen city of Grozny, which was the intended destination of the flight.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev mentioned that, according to the information he received, the flight altered its course due to adverse weather conditions, yet he emphasized that the cause of the crash remains unclear and warrants thorough investigation.
"This represents a significant tragedy that has caused immense grief for the Azerbaijani people," he stated.
Videos capturing the crash depicted the plane descending rapidly before erupting in flames upon impact with the seashore, followed by plumes of thick black smoke. Injured and bloodied passengers were seen escaping from a section of the fuselage that had remained intact.
