ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday expressed condolences for the loss of lives after at least 120 people were killed when a passenger plane crashed upon landing in South Korea.
The incident took place on Sunday morning as the Jeju Air flight, carrying 175 passengers and six crew from Thailand’s capital Bangkok, caught fire after skidding off a runway and crashing at the Muan International Airport.
South Korea’s National Fire Agency said 120 people have been killed in the plane crash while two people have been rescued, both of them being crew members.
“Deeply saddened to learn about the tragic plane crash at Muan International Airport in Korea resulting in the loss of so many lives,” Sharif wrote on social media platform X.
“In this hour of grief, our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families and with the people and the Government of Republic of Korea,” he added.
Muan fire chief Lee Jung-hyun told reporters that the fire was extinguished at 1:00 p.m. local time.
“Only the tail part retains a little bit of shape, and the rest of (the plane) looks almost impossible to recognize,” he said.
Authorities have switched from rescue to recovery operations and because of the force of the impact, are searching nearby areas for bodies possibly thrown from the plane, Lee added.
The two crew were being treated at hospitals with medium to severe injuries, said the head of the local public health center.
Investigators are looking into bird strikes and weather conditions as possible factors, Lee said. Yonhap cited airport authorities as saying a bird strike may have caused the landing gear to malfunction.
With inputs from Reuters
