"Out of the 181 passengers, most are presumed dead, except for the two who were rescued," Jeolla Fire Department officials said in their briefing to passengers’ families at the airport, according to Yonhap News Agency.
However, the authorities confirmed 122 dead in the crash.
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At least 124 people have died and two were rescued after a Jeju Air passenger jet carrying 181 people erupted in flames as it went off the runway and hit a wall at an airport in South Korea's southwestern county of Muan on Sunday, authorities said, in the nation's one of the deadliest aviation disasters.
All but the two are presumed to have been killed. 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 for the two rescued from the accident, everyone aboard is presumed to have been killed, firefighting authorities said.
The authorities had confirmed 124 deaths from the accident as of 3:18 p.m.
Operations were under way to retrieve the bodies of the victims.
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At least 96 people were killed in a plane crash at South Korea’s Musan International Airport, media reports said Sunday.
A Jeju Air flight carrying 181 passengers, including six crew, caught fire during landing after reportedly experiencing landing gear issues around 9.07 a.m. local time in Muan county -- 288 kilometers (179 miles) southwest of the South Korean capital of Seoul, according to Yonhap News Agency.
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A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Bangkok to South Korea crashed on arrival Sunday, killing at least 85, emergency services said, with a bird strike and adverse weather conditions cited as likely causes, AzVision.az reports, citing AFP.
Two survivors -- one crew and one passenger -- were plucked from the wreckage as part of an ongoing rescue operation, the national fire agency said in a statement.
Video shared by the local MBC broadcaster showed the Jeju Air plane landing at Muan International Airport's runway, with smoke streaming out from the engines, before the entire aircraft was quickly engulfed in flames.
"The cause of the accident is presumed to be a bird strike combined with adverse weather conditions. However, the exact cause will be announced following a joint investigation," Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of Muan fire station, said during a briefing.
In its latest update of the rescue operation, the National Fire Agency said: "So far, two rescued and 85 dead."
Lee Hyeon-ji, a response team officer at the local fire department, had earlier warned that "the tally could rise due to the critically injured".
Rescue authorities were evacuating passengers from the rear section of the jet, Lee said.
A photo showed the tail section of the plane -- a Boeing 737-8AS according to Flight Radar -- engulfed in flames on what appeared to be the side of the runway, with firefighters and emergency vehicles nearby.
The Muan International Airport is in Muan county, which is about 288 kilometres (179 miles) southwest of Seoul.
The fire agency said it had mobilised 32 fire engines and scores of fire fighters to the scene.
The accident took place at 9:03 am (0003 GMT) on Sunday during the landing of Jeju Air Flight 2216, the Ministry of Land said.
"A total of 175 passengers -- including two Thai nationals -- and six crew members were onboard," it said.
The initial fire was extinguished and a search and rescue operations was "under way at the crash site", it said in a statement at around 11:00 am local.
Low-cost carrier Jeju Air apologised and vowed to do all it could to help.
"We at Jeju Air will do everything in our power in response to this accident. We sincerely apologise for causing concern," the airline said in a statement posted on its social media channels.
AzVision.az
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