SEOUL, Dec 29 (Bernama-Yonhap) — South Korea’s Acting President Choi Sang-mok on Sunday announced a period of national mourning over a deadly plane crash that claimed at least 177 lives, with two people still missing, according to his office.
Yonhap News Agency reported that the announcement was made during an emergency meeting held hours after a passenger jet carrying 181 individuals crash-landed and exploded at an airport in Muan, a county in southwestern South Korea. Two crew members survived the incident.
“We extend our deepest condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families of those who lost their lives in this unexpected tragedy,” Choi said.
He declared a seven-day national mourning period, effective starting Sunday, lasting until midnight on Saturday.
The bodies of all the 179 passengers and crew killed in what is believed to be South Korea’s worst air disaster in decades have been retrieved from the wreckage.
The only two survivors were a male and a female member of the plane crew. They were taken to a hospital with injuries of various degrees of severity.
Rescuers have retrieved two black boxes — flight and voice data recorders — from the crash site, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. The commission for the investigation of aviation and railway accidents will establish the detailed circumstances of the incident, including its causes and events leading up to it, the ministry added.
— BERNAMA-YONHAP