2024-12-29
11 分钟179 people were killed when a plane crashed at Muan International Airport in South Korea. It burst into flames after skidding off the runway and hitting a wall. The only survivors were two members of the flight crew.
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This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.
I'm Paul Moss, and in this special edition recorded on Sunday 29th December at 1230 GMT,
we have the latest from Wu an airport in South Korea, where a plane has crashed on landing, killing nearly 180 people.
The country's acting president has declared a period of national mourning.
We also hear from a pilot who tells us why the crew may have had no chance to save the stricken aircraft.
Plus, we ask what this accident means for South Korea, a nation already in the midst of turmoil.
Looking at footage of the crash at South Korea's Mu an airport,
it seems clear the plane was still intact when it touched down.
But it's also clear that something had gone terribly wrong with its undercarriage.
The fuselage scrapes along the Runway, the pilots apparently unable to keep control.
And within seconds, you see the Boeing 737 strike a wall and burst into flames.
181 people were on board the flight from Bangkok,
most of them thought to be holidaymakers who'd gone for a Christmas break.
It was left to an airport official to read out a list of the dead to family members who'd gathered there.
Only two people escaped from the burning plane, making this the deadliest air accident in South Korea.
And establishing exactly what happened may be a challenge given the extensive damage the aircraft suffered.
But there is already speculation about what went wrong, as we heard from the chief of the local Muon fire station,
Ri Jong Hyun, when he spoke at a news conference.
We are presuming the cause of the accident to be a bird strike or deteriorating weather conditions,