SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Most of the people aboard a South Korean airplane that crashed at an airport in southwest South Korea on Sunday morning were believed to have been killed except two rescued, local fire authorities said.

The passenger plane with 175 passengers, including 173 South Koreans and two Thais, as well as six flight attendants on board, crashed while attempting to land at the Muan International Airport, some 290 km southwest of the capital Seoul, at about 9:07 a.m. local time (0007 GMT).

Chief of the Muan fire department said in a televised press briefing that most of the 181 people on board the plane were presumed to be dead except two rescued, including a 22-year-old male and a 25-year-old female crew member, noting that there was little chance of survival as passengers were thrown out of the fuselage after colliding with an outer wall.

A total of 85 people were confirmed dead, with two rescued at 12:50 p.m. local time (0350 GMT). Rescue operations were underway to determine additional casualties.

The Jeju Air flight 7C2216 from Bangkok, Thailand skidded off the runway and crashed into the outer wall of the runway, with its fuselage broken in half and catching fire.

According to the fire authorities, it would take time to recover and identify the bodies as the fuselage was severely destroyed.

TV footage showed a big plume of black smoke billowing out of the Boeing 737-800 engulfed by flames. Another footage showed an engine on the right wing emitting smoke with flames before attempting to land.

The fire authorities estimated that the accident may have been caused by a bird strike that led to landing gear failure.

After making the first landing attempt, the aircraft went around into the air due to an estimated malfunctioning of landing gear and made the second landing attempt with a belly landing that resulted in the crash into the wall.

The fire was initially extinguished some 43 minutes later, with about 80 firefighters and helicopters being dispatched to the scene.

Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, who became an acting president following the impeachments of both President Yoon Suk-yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, ordered relevant high-ranking officials to make all-out efforts by mobilizing all available equipment and manpower to save lives.

Choi, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, stressed that special attention should be paid to prevent rescuers from suffering additional accidents during rescue operations.

After giving those orders, Choi departed for the scene of the accident. Enditem

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