A passenger plane burst into flames after veering off the runway at a South Korean airport on Sunday, killing at least 28 people on board, emergency officials said.
The plane, carrying 181 passengers, veered off the runway shortly after landing, collided with a fence and caught fire. The country’s emergency office said the landing gear appeared to have malfunctioned.
Video of the accident broadcast by YTN TV showed the Jeju Air plane crossing the runway with its landing gear closed and colliding head-on with a concrete wall around the facility’s perimeter. According to the Ministry of Transport, the incident occurred at 9:03 a.m. local time.
The National Fire and Disaster Management Agency said the fire was largely extinguished, but authorities were still trying to pull people from the Jeju Air plane at the airport in the southern town of Muan.
According to the agency, at least 28 people died in the fire. Emergency personnel rescued two people, one passenger and one crew member. It said 32 fire engines and several helicopters were called in to contain the blaze.
Emergency officials said they were investigating the cause of the fire.
Local television stations showed footage of thick black smoke billowing from the plane engulfed in flames.
The incident comes as South Korea is embroiled in a huge political crisis caused by President Yun Seok-Yeol’s stunning imposition of martial law and subsequent impeachment. Last Friday, South Korean lawmakers impeached Acting President Han Deok-soo, suspended him from office, and replaced him with Vice Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok.
Choi ordered authorities to use all resources to rescue the passengers and crew, Yonhap News reported. Yun’s chief of staff, Jeong Jin-seok, is scheduled to preside over an emergency meeting of senior presidential officials to discuss the crash later on Sunday, Yun’s office said.
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