Most of the remains-like objects collected in April this year during the search at the site of the Dec. 29 Jeju Air passenger plane disaster have been confirmed as victims' remains. The on-site search for unrecovered remains will resume on the 15th of this month.
According to the Dec. 29 Muan Airport Jeju Air passenger plane disaster bereaved families association on the 10th, DNA analysis of 230 remains-like objects collected during the on-site search from Apr. 13 to 16 found that 195 were the remains of 64 victims.
The remaining 38 either were not remains or did not yield detectable DNA.
The results are from analyzing the first-week batch of 230 out of 1,446 remains-like objects collected at the disaster site from Apr. 13 to May 11. About 1,210 remains-like objects have yet to yield analysis results.
Earlier, about 1,000 pieces of victims' remains were said to have been recovered immediately after the disaster, but bereaved families raised concerns that the recovery process was insufficient.
Accordingly, an additional review of debris left behind the Muan Airport fire brigade for about a month from February found 38 pieces of victims' remains.
Afterward, the bereaved families suggested unrecovered remains might still be at the disaster site, and search authorities conducted an on-site search starting Apr. 13.
President Lee Jae-myung also ordered accountability for those responsible for the sloppy recovery of remains and a thorough follow-up search.
However, the search was halted on the 11th of last month after carcinogens were detected in the soil. Search authorities plan to resume on-site operations starting on the 15th of this month after reviewing soil treatment and safety procedures.
A representative of the bereaved families association said, "The fact that nearly 200 pieces of remains were found in a week is clear evidence that the initial recovery process after the disaster was inadequate," adding, "In the resumed search, thorough verification and recovery must be carried out so that not a single piece is missed."