A Jeju Airplane with 180 passengers aboard burst into flames on the ground in the early hours of Sunday in South Korea.
Gatekeepers News reports that the 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet that was returning from Bangkok in Thailand, with two Thai nationals on board met its ill-fated end in Muan, which lies about 290 kilometers from Seoul, the country’s capital city.
The plane had lost traction on the runway before ramming into a concrete fence when its front landing gear failed to deploy.
According to officials; about 124 people including 57 women, 54 men, and others whose genders were not confirmed have been confirmed dead, with the death toll expected to rise.
Rescue workers are still searching for bodies strewn across the airport as thick, black smoke billows from the wreckage.
Lee Jeong-Hyeon, chief of Muan Fire Station, said the plane was destroyed, with only the tail assembly still recognisable among the debris.
