During a follow-up search to find the unrecovered remains of victims at the site of the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29, 2024, the number of presumed remains found has surpassed 1,000.
The 12/29 Muan Airport Jeju Air passenger plane disaster bereaved families' council said on the 28th that it had found 150 additional presumed remains. Starting the follow-up search on the 13th, the total number of presumed remains found in two weeks is 1,094.
The Korean National Police Agency forensic science unit and the Ministry of National Defense remains excavation and identification team are searching for remains and personal effects by digging up the ground daily and sifting the soil. Authorities plan to continue the follow-up search through the 29th of next month. The period may be extended.
Earlier, as remains and personal effects emerged in large numbers while reclassifying debris that had been stored in large sacks, authorities launched the follow-up search.
The bereaved families appealed to lawmakers Yeom Tae-young, Kim Moon-soo, and Chung Joon-ho of the Dec. 29 passenger plane disaster special committee for a parliamentary inquiry, who visited the follow-up search site that day, to determine responsibility for the neglect of remains and the poor recovery effort and to promptly release the results of the disaster investigation and probe.
At about 9:03 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2024, Jeju Air Flight 7C2216, which had departed Bangkok, Thailand, struck a localizer concrete berm while making an emergency belly landing on the runway at Muan International Airport. Of the 181 people on board, 179 died in the crash.