96 people killed in Muan airport plane crash...Working on the rescue

[Anchor]
A passenger plane carrying 175 passengers hit a wall and caught fire at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do during landing.The number of casualties is increasing as the

accident has been resolved.

I'm connecting the reporter who is on the scene. Reporter Kim Minsung!

The number of deaths continues to increase, so please tell us the status of casualties.

[Journalist]
Yes, that's right.

So far, a total of 181 people have been on board the plane.

Among them, there are 175 passengers and six crew members.

Unfortunately, 96 people have been confirmed dead so far.

Of the 96 people, 47 were male, 48 were female, and 1 were unidentified.

No additional rescue news has been heard except for two.

The two rescued were male and female crew members, each in their 20s, who were taken to a hospital for treatment.At 1 p.m. on

The fire department explained at a briefing that neither of them was in critical condition.

Of the 175 passengers, all but two Thai passengers were identified as Koreans.

[Anchor]
How is the search going?

[Reporter]
The body was being recovered around the aircraft where the accident occurred.

I could see rescuers coming and going with stretchers.

The search scope has expanded a little bit now.

Not only where there is debris, but also the surrounding grasses are being searched by rescuers one by one.

It is estimated that there are passengers inside the aircraft.

There seems to be a search operation on this interior as well.

Right behind me, I could also see paramedics carrying the body on a stretcher a little while ago.

In order to prevent the recovery process from being seen, volunteer firefighters and others are standing in a line along the fence to block the outside view.

[Anchor]
The situation on the ground looks very dizzy, what do you think?

[Reporter]
Yes, as you say, the fuselage is torn here and there, and the passengers' luggage is scattered, so it's very dizzy.

I can see some of the plane's fuselage behind me, behind the barbed wire.

The tail wings appear to be blackened.

You can see several fragments from the plane around it.

There are a lot of debris scattered everywhere.

Outside the fence, citizens, who appear to be the families of some passengers, are watching the on-site rescue operation with anxious faces.

[Anchor]
Is there any specific cause of the accident?

[Reporter]
The Korea Airports Corporation (KAF) said that the plane in the accident was landing on the fuselage and caused an accident.

There is a possibility that the landing device, that is, the landing gear, may have attempted to land without opening.

The accidental passenger approaching runway 1 of Muan Airport attempted to land, but it was impossible to land normally, so it returned and attempted to land again.

The aircraft, which attempted to land, failed to slow down until it reached the end of the runway, hit the airport structure and damaged the fuselage and caught fire.

There was also a circumstance that all three landing gears, the wheels of the aircraft, did not come down normally, so they attempted to land the fuselage.

Witness testimony that flames flared over the right wing engine of the plane before landing suggested that the cause of the accident was a bird strike.

However, it seems that the cause of the accident should be investigated through the collection of black boxes.

[Anchor]
How is the restoration of the dead and the support of the bereaved families?

[Reporter]
Yes, the Korea Railroad Corporation has announced that it will run a special free temporary train for the bereaved families.

The temporary train from Seoul to Muan departs from Seoul Station at 3 p.m. and stops at Gwangmyeong Station, Osong Station, Iksan Station, Naju Station, and Mokpo Station in turn.

The temporary train bound for Seoul again leaves Mokpo Station at 8:30 p.m.

A joint memorial altar for airliner accidents will also be set up.

It's 'Muan Sports Park' near the airport.

The specific schedule is flexible.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok is said to be planning to chair the second meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at the Muan County Office after seeing the scene of the Muan accident.

So far, this is YTN Kim Min-sung at the scene of the plane crash at Muan Airport in Jeollanam-do.