South Korea: Families Mourn Air Crash Victims

The sounds of sobbing, prayers and anguish echoed through the departures hall of an airport in southwestern South Korea on Monday as families of the victims killed when a passenger jet crash-landed over the weekend waited for their loved ones to be identified.

All but two people on a Jeju Air plane carrying 175 passengers and six crew died after it crashed at the airport in Muan County just after 9 a.m. local time on Sunday – in what is the deadliest aviation disaster the country has seen in nearly 30 years.

Loved ones inside Muan International Airport wept as medics announced the names of the victims who had been identified. So far, 146 victims have been identified, while efforts are underway to name the remaining 33 bodies, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.

In the soaring atrium that normally serves as the airport’s departure hall, scores of families huddled together, murmuring hushed prayers. Some were seen wrapped in each other’s embrace, weeping, while several monks spoke to gathered groups. Rows of yellow tents stood erected for people who had stayed overnight. Several relatives could be seen yelling at officials, demanding more information.

CNN/Shakirat Sadiq