South Korea plane crash: Dozens dead at Muan airport

A plane carrying 181 passengers has crashed at an airport in South Korea, killing at least 85 people, the country’s fire service has said.

The aircraft came off the runway and crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport in the south west of the country, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The Jeju Air plane, which was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members, was returning from Bangkok in Thailand and crashed as it was landing.

Two people have been found alive so far and rescue operations were still under way, a fire official told the Reuters news agency.

Emergency services were attempting to rescue people in the tail section of the aircraft, an airport official said.

The passengers on board the flight included 173 South Koreans and two Thais, Yonhap reported.

The cause of the crash is still not known, but local media reported it may have been caused by birds getting caught in the plane’s systems.

According to the National Fire Agency, the 62 people killed included 37 women and 25 men.

Unverified footage uploaded to social media of the crash – which happened shortly after 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT) – shows the aircraft skidding off the runway and crashing into a wall, before part of it bursts into flames.

Other footage shows a large plume of black smoke rising into the sky.

One flight attendant and one passenger have been rescued so far, South Korea’s fire agency said in a statement, adding that 80 firefighters and more than 30 fire trucks had been deployed to the crash site.

Muan is about 178 miles (288 km) south of the capital, Seoul.

South Korea’s aviation industry is considered to have a solid track record for safety.

This crash is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea’s largest low-cost airlines, which was set up in 2005.