Tragic victims of South Korean air catastrophe: First photos emerge of passengers killed in fireball Boeing crash together with boy, three, on first vacation – as textual content alternate reveals traveller’s heartbreaking closing message to cherished one
The first victims of one of South Korea‘s worst ever plane crashes have been named and pictured – including a three-year-old boy who was the youngest to perish in the disaster as he returned home from a holiday with his parents.
A Jeju Air plane skidded off the runway at Muan airport, 180 miles south of Seoul, before slamming into a concrete barrier and bursting into flames on Sunday after its landing gear apparently failed to deploy.
Almost all of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 were killed, with only two members of cabin crew – a man and a woman – pulled from the wreckage alive.
All of those on board the flight from Bangkok to Muan are thought to have been Korean except for two Thai nationals, one of whom was a 22-year-old woman named as Sirithon Chaue, whose mother was waiting for her at the airport.
Her relatives said today that she was fulfilling her lifelong dream of flying to Korea, where her mother lives, in the hope of finding a job there as an air hostess.
Five of the people who died in the tragedy were children under the age of 10, with the youngest, a three-year-old, reported to have died alongside his parents as they returned from their first family holiday.
Kang Ko, 43, and his wife Jin Lee Seon, 37, had shared pictures on Instagram of their little boy, including one of him excitedly looking out of the plane window as they flew to Thailand for the winter vacation.
One heartbreaking post shows the family at the airport ahead of their trip, with a picture of the toddler and his passport captioned: ‘My son is going abroad for the first time on a night flight, and his first passport has no stamp!’
It comes after the final texts sent by a passenger on the doomed flight were revealed, which appear to support theories that the plane was struck by a bird moments before its final descent.
Kang Ko, 43, and his wife Jin Lee Seon, 37, shared pictures of their first family holiday on Instagram
Kang Ko shared pictures of his family’s holiday on Instagram, including one of him excitedly looking out of the plane window as they flew to Thailand
A picture has been shared online purportedly showing the final texts sent by a passenger on the doomed flight
Sirithon Chaue, 22, was among 179 passengers and crew killed when the Boeing 737 exploded in a fireball at the Muan International Airport
People stand as the wreckage of an aircraft lying on the ground after it went off the runway and crashed at Muan International Airport is pictured, in Muan, South Korea, December 30
The unnamed passenger reportedly messaged a family member moments before the crash, saying: ‘We can’t land because a bird is stuck in the wing.’
‘Should I say my last words?’ they then wrote, before communication was lost.
Tributes have poured in for the many victims, with many expressing their condolences for the loss of whole families in the air disaster.
Sports broadcaster Jung Woo-young shared a post on Instagram paying tribute to Mr Ko, who reportedly worked in PR for the Kia Tigers baseball team.
‘He was so good at his job that everyone on our company’s baseball broadcasting team liked him,’ the TV host wrote.
‘I was one of them, of course. We waited until the end for news of a miraculous return, but with the news of the deaths of everyone except the rescuers, even our last hope disappeared. In the end, he never returned. Not even his family.’
Korean media reports have suggested that Mr Ko had planned the trip both to celebrate Christmas and following his team’s victory in the Korean Series earlier this year.
Mr Ko regularly shared pictures of his family on Instagram, including a number of posts from their holiday to Thailand, showing the parents and their young son, named in Korean media as Go Mo, visiting a temple and enjoying a trip to the zoo.
The comments were flooded with messages of condolence, while members of Korea’s baseball community also paid tribute to Mr Ko and his family.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216 is engulfed in flames as it slams into a wall following a crash after landing at Muan International Airport
In the Thai village of village of Chiang Rai, close to the border with China, family and friends of Sirithon have been mourning since the news of her death emerged.
Her uncle Theerapat Chaue, 37, said: ‘My niece loved Korea. She was going to visit her mother, who has worked there for 10 years. She always dreamed of working there as an air hostess.
‘Her mother was waiting at the airport and at first she thought the plane malfunction was minor. But then she saw the videos of what happened on social media. She was in shock and panic.
‘The airline has offered to provide tickets for myself and my two brothers to go to South Korea for the funeral. But we may bring her ashes home.’
Many of those on board the doomed flight had been celebrating the Christmas holidays in Thailand and were returning home.
Fire and smoke rise from the tail section of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft after the plane crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport
An unverified video grab reportedly of the Jeju Air plane shows a burst of fire coming out of the jet’s right engine supposedly showing the moment the bird struck
A man in his sixties told local media that five members of his family had been on the plane, including his sister-in-law, his daughter, her husband and their young children.
Jeon Je-young, whose daughter Mi-sook was one of 179 who died on board Jeju Airlines flight 2216, says he still cannot believe what happened.
‘When I saw the accident video, the plane seemed out of control,’ the 71-year-old father said.
‘The pilots probably had no choice but to do it. My daughter, who is only in her mid-40s, ended up like this. This is unbelievable.’
‘The water near the airport is not deep,’ Jeon told Reuters.
‘(There) are softer fields than this cement runway. Why couldn’t the pilot land there instead?’
He added that his daughter was almost home safe, so had seen no reason to call and leave a final message. ‘She was almost home – she thought she was coming home’.
More than 24 hours on from the tragedy, authorities said the identities of 141 of the 179 dead have been confirmed.
Only five bodies have so far been released to families, the BBC reports, as grieving families continue the agonising wait for their loved ones’ remains.
South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok pays tribute to the victims of the 29 December Jeju Air plane crash
Some families asked him why five bodies had been released, while the remaining 173 victims have not been returned to their grieving relatives.
Na replied that the five bodies released were the only ones that were intact.
‘Can you promise that they will be put back together?’ one man asked, following the news that the bodies of many victims are very badly damaged.
A local police official reportedly told relatives waiting at the airport that they will have more results on Tuesday morning.
Some of these families have camped out overnight in emergency tents, which have been put up in the airport’s departure hall, providing some privacy.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and other accident response authorities said in a statement that ‘the remains of all 179 dead people have been placed in a temporary mortuary.
‘When the investigative authorities have completed the autopsy and are ready to return the bodies, we will contact the families further.’
