Jeju Air flight, carrying 181 passengers from Bangkok, veered off runway and caught fire on landing, reports media
South Korean authorities said Sunday that 179 people are believed to have died in a plane crash at Musan International Airport, local media reported.
"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.
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.
The twin-engine aircraft, returning from Bangkok, veered off the runway and collided with a fence before slamming into a wall in a fiery explosion.
Footage by local media showed the plane skidding down the runway, engulfed in flames and debris.
A passenger and a crew member were found alive in the tail section of the place as rescue efforts continued.
The majority of the passengers were Koreans in addition to two Thai nationals.
An airport official said authorities were focusing on rescuing those trapped in the wreckage.
South Korea's acting President Choi Sung-mok ordered "all-out rescue efforts" in response.
Choi, who assumed interim leadership amid a political crisis, convened an emergency meeting to oversee the response.
Jeju Air said upon the incident that it is "checking reports of the accident."
The crash marks one of the deadliest aviation accidents in South Korea in recent years.
Initial fire was extinguished and investigations into the cause are underway to determine a definite cause.
