Among the 179 victims of the Jeju Air passenger plane tragedy that occurred at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do, 146 identities were confirmed on the 30th. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to complete the identification of the remaining 33 individuals, whose identities have not yet been confirmed, through DNA testing within the day.
Lee Jin-cheol, the Administrator of the Busan Regional Aviation Administration, noted during a briefing held at the Muan Airport management building that "up until the morning, 141 identities had been confirmed, but that increased around 3:40 p.m. today."
He stated, "Until now, identity verification had been done using fingerprints, but we have nearly reached the limit, and there are cases of errors occurring,” adding, “From now on, we will likely have to rely on DNA testing."
Earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport sent DNA for 35 unidentified victims by helicopter to the National Forensic Service. It also sent DNA from 32 individuals as reference material to verify the DNA.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to send all recovered body parts from the accident scene to the National Forensic Service for familial identification of the deceased. Earlier, the police's Jeju Air aircraft accident investigation headquarters reported that 606 body parts had been found at the accident site.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to complete the identification work of the deceased by confirming the DNA sent in the morning. However, the complete verification of body parts for the transfer of remains is expected to take at least ten days.
The Administrator stated, "The results of the DNA sent to the National Forensic Service for samples are said to be available today," adding that "the results for 33 individuals, whose identities were not verifiable through fingerprint analysis, will come out tonight."