‘She was almost home’: Families mourn after S Korea plane crash

A celebration of Maeng Gi-Su’s brother and his brother’s two sons, who were preparing for the conclusion of their college entrance exams, was supposed to take place in Thailand on a colorful trip.

Rather, it ended in tragedy when all three died on the Jeju Air planes that crash-landed in South Korea on Sunday morning, killing 179 of the 181 individuals ashore.

” I can’t believe the entire family has really disappeared”, Maeng, 78, told the BBC.

” My heart aches but much”.

The family were among those onboard flight 7C2216 that crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport shortly after 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT) on Sunday.

The Boeing 737-800 was the deadliest helicopter fall to occur on North Korean soil, with only one passenger per death.

Four team members perished, and two were still unharmed from the aircraft.

The 179 people were aged between three and 78 centuries old, although most were in their 40s, 50s and 60s, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. Authorities have reported that two Thai citizens are among the dying, and the rest are thought to be South Korean.

The youngest rider, a young child, was only three years old, while five of the people who died were children under the age of three.

One person in his forties said five of his household members spanning three millennia had been on the aircraft, including his sister-in-law, his child, her father and their young children, according to Yonhap media company.

Many of the travelers were returning home after spending the Christmas festivals in Thailand.

The cousin of one victim, Jongluk Doungmanee, told BBC she was” shocked” when she heard the news.

” I had chills. I don’t feel it”, she said.

Jongluk and her husband had spent more than two months in Thailand, visiting their families, and traveling in the northern area of Chiang Mai.

A 71-year-old parents, Jeon Je-young, told the Reuters news organization that his daughter Mi-Sook, who was identified by her prints, had been on her way home after travelling with friends to Bangkok for the holidays.

” My girl, who is only in her mid-40s, ended up like this”, he said, adding that he had last seen her on 21 December, when she brought some food and next week’s timeline to his residence- that would become their next time together.

Mi-Sook leaves behind a father and young girl.

” This is unbelievable”, said Jeon.

One person claimed that as her sister’s career started to improve, she had moved to Thailand.

She told Yonhap news company,” She’s had so many difficulties and traveled because her position was only just beginning to improve.”

The most unbroken portion of the aircraft, the tail end of the plane, was where the two trip attendants who survived the collision were discovered.

One was a 33-year-old man, with the surname Lee, who was rushed to a hospital in Mokpo, about 25km ( 15.5 mi ) south of the airport, but was later transferred to Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital in the capital, Yonhap news agency reported.

” When I woke up, I had already been rescued”, he told specialists at the doctor, according to its chairman Ju Woong, who spoke during a press briefing.

The victim, who suffered many fractures, is receiving unique treatment due to the risk of after-effects, including total immobility, Ju said.

The other victim, a 25-year-old sexual aircraft operator with the title Koo, is being treated at Asan Medical Center in eastern Seoul, Yonhap added.

She is reportedly in a secure condition despite having mind and ankle injuries.

Although it’s not yet known exactly what caused the accident, eye witnesses claim that they could see that the aircraft was in trouble before the fall.

Im Young-Hak, the owner of the restaurant, said he initially believed it to be an oil tanker incident.

” I went outside and saw thick, black smoke. After that, I heard a loud explosion, not from the accident itself. Then there were more blasts – at least seven”, he told Reuters.

” We feel negative when accidents occur on the other side of the world, but this one happened straight here. It’s traumatic”.

Yoo Jae-yong, 41, who was staying near to the aircraft, told local press he saw a flash on the correct aircraft shortly before the accident.

Kim Yong-cheol, 70, said the aircraft failed to get immediately and circled up to try once.

He added that he witnessed “black smoking billowing into the clouds” after hearing a “loud explosion”, Yonhap organization reported.

One fire who was dispatched to the field admitted to never seeing anything “on this level.”

Some BBC reporters on the ground are upset about how long it takes to discover the body, while others claim the sounds of community members crying echoed through the switch on Sunday night.

At Muan International Airport, there are still many people waiting for their loved ones to be found.

Some organizations have provided DNA saliva samples to authorities to help determine the bodies of victims, and the government has provided bereaved families with temporary housing and death services.

For the next seven weeks, a regional period of mourning has also been declared.

Despite the deaths of their loved ones, some inquiries still remain, not least about the crash’s reason and whether it could have been avoided.

” The water near the airport is no deep”, Jeon told Reuters.

“( There ) are softer fields than this cement runway. Why couldn’t the captain land that instead”?

His child Mi-Sook was nearly home, but saw no reason to call and left a last message, he says.

She reportedly thought she was going to return home when she was about there.