167 people died in Muan Airport plane crash...Working on the rescue

[Anchor]
A passenger plane carrying 181 people hit a wall and caught fire while landing at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do.The number of casualties is increasing as the

accident has been resolved.

I'm connecting the reporter who is on the scene. Reporter Kim Minsung!

The number of deaths continues to increase, so please tell us the status of casualties.

[Reporter]
Of the 181 passengers on the plane so far, 175 passengers and 6 crew members have been on board.

Unfortunately, 167 people have been confirmed dead as of 5:10 p.m.

Of the 167 people, 79 were male, 77 were female, and 11 were unidentified.

No additional rescue news has been heard except for two.

The two rescued were male and female crew members, each in their 20s, who were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Fire officials explained at a 1 p.m. briefing that neither of them was in critical condition.

Of the 175 passengers, all but two Thai passengers were identified as Koreans.

[Anchor]
How is the search going?

[Reporter]
Currently, the military, firefighting, and heavy equipment have been deployed to the scene to search the area.

The body was collected around the aircraft where the accident occurred in the first place.

The search scope has expanded a little bit now.

Not only where there is debris, but also the surrounding grasses are being searched by the military and rescue teams.

It is estimated that there are passengers inside the aircraft.

There seems to be a search operation on this interior as well.

[Anchor]
The situation on the ground looks very dizzy, what do you think?

[Reporter]
As you say, the fuselage is torn here and there, and the passengers' luggage is scattered, making it very dizzy.

I can see some of the aircraft fuselage and the search site far behind me.

The tail wings appear to be blackened.

There are several pieces of debris from the plane around it.

There are a lot of debris scattered everywhere.

Citizens, who appeared to be the families of the passengers, could also be seen watching the on-site rescue work from a distance with anxious faces.

[Anchor]
Is there any specific cause of the accident?

[Reporter]
The government says the plane was landing on the fuselage when the accident happened.

There is a possibility that the landing device, that is, the landing gear, may have attempted to land without opening.

The accidental passenger approaching runway 1 of Muan Airport attempted to land, but it was impossible to land normally, so it returned and attempted to land again.

The Muan Airport control tower warned the aircraft of bird activity at around 8:57 a.m. today, and a minute later, the aircraft captain sent a Mayday signal.

At the time of the second landing attempt, the aircraft attempted to land the fuselage while failing to lower the wheels, with its head lifted.

There is also an assumption that the tail does not completely touch the ground, so it does not seem to be a certain deceleration.

There was also a circumstance that all three landing gears, the wheels of the aircraft, did not come down normally, so they attempted to land the fuselage.

However, it seems that the cause of the accident should be investigated through the collection of black boxes.

[Anchor]
How is the restoration of the dead and the support of the bereaved families?

[Reporter]
Currently, the dead are in a temporary resting place installed at Muan Airport.

Many of the passengers' families are currently staying in airport waiting rooms, where on-site briefings are repeated every 30 minutes.

In addition, the Korea Railroad Corporation said it will operate a special free temporary train for the families of passengers.

The temporary train coming down from Seoul to Muan leaves Seoul Station at 3 p.m., and the temporary train heading back to Seoul leaves Mokpo Station at 8:30 p.m.

A joint memorial altar for airliner accidents will also be set up around 12 p.m. tomorrow.

It's 'Muan Sports Park' near the airport.

There will also be a waiting room for bereaved families on the third floor of Muan Sports Park.

So far, this is YTN Kim Min-sung at the scene of the plane accident at Muan Airport in Jeollanam-do.