At least 120 people are dead after a plane carrying 181 passengers crashed off a runway and smashed into a wall at a South Korean airport.
The Jeju Air flight was returning from Bangkok when the horror unfolded at Muan International Airport in South Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Horror footage showed the moment the aircraft slid along the runway, before ploughing into concrete and erupting into a ball of flames.
Authorities have now confirmed at least 120 have been killed, the majority being found in the tail of the plane.
The still-rising death toll includes at least 54 men and 57 women, according to the National Fire Agency.
The toll is expected to continue rising as the rest of the people aboard the plane remain missing about six hours following the horrific crash.
The bodies of nine other passengers aboard the deadly flight were so brutally injured that their gender was not immediately clear, officials said.
Two survivors were miraculously pulled from the wreckage but all of the remaining 179 passengers are presumed dead.
Most of the passengers are Korean, except for two Thai nationals.
Lee Hyeon-ji, a response team officer at the local fire department, said the death toll would likely continue to rise ‘due to the critically injured’.
A plane carrying 181 people has crashed into a wall at at Muan International Airport in South Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday
Pictures taken from the scene shows a huge plume of smoke as firefighters tackle the blaze
The country’s emergency office says the 175 passengers were on board when the plane slammed into the wall
Haunting snaps taken from the scene shows a huge plume of smoke as scores firefighters with 32 trucks were tackling the blaze.
The horror crash is believed to have been caused by ‘contact with birds, resulting in malfunctioning landing gear’ as the plane attempted to land at the airport in the country’s southwest.
The flight had reportedly attempted one landing before being forced to turn around and tried to land again when the landing gear failed to lower normally.
Footage has emerged of the moment the plane attempts to land – and appears to have an issue with its landing gear.
The aircraft appears to slide along the runway, but it fails to slow down.
It then slams into the concrete wall at the end of the runway and erupts into a ball of flames.
Frantic emergency services then rush to the scene.
According to Flightradar data, the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 departed from Bangkok at 2.29am local time and was due to arrive at 8.30 but landed at 8.59am.
Haunting footage shows the plane sliding along the runway when its landing gear seemingly failed
Pictures from the scene show the tail of the aircraft surrounded by debris with smoke coming out of it as firefighters tackle the blaze
A number of emergency services rushed to the scene to respond to the horror crash
According to Flightradar data, the plane was a Boeing 737 departed from Bangkok at 2.29am local time and was due to arrive at 8.30 but landed at 8.59am
The wreckage left behind after the plane carrying 175 passengers crashed in South Korea
Firefighters putting the fire out after the plane drove off runway and crashed into a wall
Acting President Choi Sang-mok, pictured, called for the mobilisation of all resources to save the passengers
A photo showed the tail section of the jet engulfed in flames on what appeared to be the side of the runway, with firefighters and emergency vehicles nearby.
Firefighters have since extinguished the fire and search and rescue operations have been deployed on site.
An on-site investigation has now been launched to determine the exact cause of the crash.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for the mobilisation of all resources to save the passengers.
‘All related agencies… must mobilise all available resources to save the personnel,’ he instructed officials in a statement.
Read more on our live blog, here: South Korea plane crash latest: Dozens dead after aircraft’s ‘landing gear fails’ with 181 onboard