The death toll from a Jeju Air plane crash at Muan International Airport in South Korea has risen to 122, with only two survivors, according to the South Jeolla Fire Service.
Authorities report that most of the remaining passengers and crew are presumed dead. Among the fatalities, 54 are male and 57 are female, while the gender of 11 victims has yet to be identified. Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 was carrying 181 people (175 passengers and six crew) from Bangkok, Thailand to South Korea.
The two survivors, both crew members – one male and one female – remain the only confirmed survivors, according to the fire service team at the scene.
The jetliner was carrying 181 passengers and crew when it crashed on Sunday morning.
The Transport Ministry announced during a briefing that rescue workers will prioritize recovering the remaining victims before beginning the search for the flight's black box data recorders,
The black boxes, which are critical to aviation safety investigations, contain flight data and cockpit recordings that could help determine the cause of the crash.
More than 700 personnel from the police, military, and coast guard have been deployed for on-site recovery efforts, the ministry stated.
According to the Muan Fire Department, rescuers are working to identify the victims and document the exact locations where they were found. The deceased will be transported to a mortuary at the airport and released to families for burial once the identification process is complete.
"The cause of this accident is estimated to be the occurrence of a bird strike or bad weather, and the exact cause will be announced later through a joint investigation with related agencies," the head of the Muan Fire Department, Lee Jeong-hyun, told a media briefing.
This is a developing story.
