Washington, Dec 29: A passenger jet carrying 181 people erupted in flames after going off the runway at an airport in South Korea's southwestern county of Muan Sunday, leaving at least 62 people dead, with the death toll expected to rise sharply, authorities said.

The accident happened at 9:07 am (local time) when the Jeju Air flight veered off the runway while landing and collided with a fence wall at the Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Jeolla Province, about 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul, reports Yonhap news agency.

Authorities confirmed 62 people were killed, with the casualties expected to rise sharply. One passenger and one crew member were rescued.

A total of 181, including six crew members, were aboard the plane that was returning from Bangkok. Most of the passengers were Koreans, except for two Thai nationals.

Videos aired by local TV stations show the plane attempting to land without its landing gear deployed. The plane skidded along the ground, crashing into a concrete wall before exploding and being engulfed in flames.

The explosion almost completely destroyed the plane.

Authorities have extinguished the fire, and search and rescue operations were underway at the crash site.

Some 80 firefighters have been sent to the crash site.

Officials suspect the landing gear failure, possibly due to a bird strike, may have caused the accident. They began an on-site investigation to determine the exact cause.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok instructed officials to make all-out efforts for the rescue operations. Choi was on his way to the accident site, his officials said.

The presidential office said it will convene an emergency meeting of senior officials at 11:30 a.m. to discuss government responses to the plane crash. The meeting will be presided over by Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk.

Acting National Police Agency Commissioner-General Lee Ho-young also ordered officials to mobilise all available resources and work with firefighting and other related agencies to help with the rescue efforts.

(IANS)

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