After the tragic plane crash, the South Korean presidency has decreed the city of Muan, in the province of South Jeolla (southeast), as a special disaster areagiving the green light to ad hoc state support.
South Korea’s interim president, Choi Sang-mok, made the announcement after arriving at Muan International Airport, located 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul, where 179 people lost their lives and two were killed. were saved in the crash of Jeju Air flight 7C2216, which departed from Bangkok airport, Thailand.
«The government is allocating all available resources through the Headquarters for security and disaster relief measuresand declared Muan a special disaster area,” Choi said during a government meeting held on site and in statements reported by local news agency Yonhap. The president said he is thoroughly investigating the cause of the accident and is developing measures to ensure that it does not happen again in the future, ordering relevant agencies to use all their equipment, personnel and infrastructure. “I believe that no words of comfort will be enough for the families who have suffered such a tragedy,” continued Choi, assuring the full support of government agencies to the families of the victims and to the investigations.
The accident occurred around 9:07 local time, when the Boeing 737-8AS crashed during landing and caught fire, in severe bad weather and apparently after hitting a flock of birds.
