According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing rescue services, 179 out of the 181 on board the Jeju Air passenger jet were killed when the plane crash landed at Muan Airport this morning.
The control tower issued a bird strike warning and shortly afterward the pilots declared mayday, a transport ministry official said.
Families packed the arrival area and Red Cross volunteers handed out blankets.
Many people hugged each other, and wept. Some circulated pieces of paper to write down contact details of the families.
One relative grabbed a microphone and told the press not to film.
“We are not monkeys at a zoo. We are the bereaved families. We can explode at any time, though we’re holding ourselves.”
There was confusion as people scrambled to identify their loved ones and filled the airport area where hundreds of relatives gathered and waited for news.
Another victim’s relative said on the microphone: “My brother died and I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know.”
About one minute after the mayday call the aircraft made its ill-fated attempt to land, the official said.
The official did not specify whether the flight said it struck any birds, but added that the black boxes had been collected.
