Plane crash in South Korea: birds to blame? The terrible video of the tragedy

The plane landed on its belly before ending its journey by colliding with a concrete wall on Sunday, December 29.

After a plane crash in South Korea on Sunday, December 29, at least 151 people died and several dozen others are missing. The toll, communicated by the authorities, is still provisional and continues to increase.

The accident took place while the plane, a Boeing 737-8AS of the South Korean company Jeju Air, was landing in the city of Muan. On social networks, the video of the tragedy was widely distributed.

It was carrying 181 people including six crew members from Bangkok, Thailand. Only two people were of Thai nationality, the other passengers were South Koreans. So far, only two survivors who were part of the company have been discovered.

A collision with birds?

The events took place around 9 a.m. in Muan (1 a.m. in Paris), the plane suffered an “exit from the runway” then ended up in a concrete wall at the airport, traces the Yonhap news agency. According to the authorities, the origin of the tragedy was due to a failure of the landing gear. “The cause of the accident is suspected to be a collision with birds combined with unfavorable weather conditions. However, the exact cause will be announced after an investigation,” said Lee Jeong-hyun, head of the barracks. of Muan firefighters, during a press briefing.

The plane had sent out a distress message after a first landing attempt, when the control tower had warned the crew that the plane had been struck by birds.

According to Jeju Air general manager Kim E-bae, the aircraft showed no signs of malfunction.

Little chance of survival

“All missing people are presumed dead,” Yonhap continued, adding that “the rescue operation will become a search operation for the bodies.” On the side of the firefighters, it is estimated that “the passengers were ejected from the plane during the collision with a barrier, which gave them little chance of surviving”.

The plane is almost completely destroyed and the identification of the deceased is proving difficult,” said an emergency services official.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok quickly visited the scene and offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims of the plane crash. It is one of the deadliest in the country’s history.