Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin.
The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.
A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number to seven yesterday.
One of them is currently hospitalized, the ministry added.
The accident left nearly half of the fuselage burnt, but its wings and engines on both sides remain undamaged, it said, adding that the cause of the fire is under investigation.
“It is unclear when we will be able to disclose the investigation findings on the cause of last night’s fire,” a ministry spokesperson said.
Dramatic images and footage from local media on Tuesday night showed the aircraft engulfed in flames, with thick smoke appearing to billow from the interior of the plane.
Images from yesterday morning revealed that the upper half of the fuselage was burned away, leaving a huge hole. While the ministry did not comment on the possible cause of the fire, Yonhap News Agency reported that the blaze began to spread after black smoke emerged from the overhead compartment in the back row.
“It seems that a fire broke out when a passenger’s portable battery, stored in the overhead bin as carry-on luggage, became compressed,” local daily JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing an unnamed person affiliated with Air Busan.
“As the smoke filled the cabin, a passenger seated near the emergency exit opened the door, and the flight attendant opened the opposite one, allowing others to start evacuating,” a passenger recounted, as quoted by Yonhap. “It was ... chaotic and terrifying.”
South Korea suffered the worst aviation disaster on its soil last month when a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800, flying from Thailand to Muan on Dec. 29, crash-landed and exploded into a fireball after slamming into a concrete barrier.
That crash killed 179 of the 181 passengers and crew members on board.
“In the wake of the Jeju Air passenger aircraft tragedy, an additional aviation accident has taken place, and we feel deeply sorry for the passengers on board and the public,” Minister of Transportation minister Park Sang-woo said in a statement yesterday.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
One of Japan’s biggest pop stars and best-known TV hosts, Masahiro Nakai, yesterday announced his retirement over sexual misconduct allegations, reports said, in the latest scandal to rock Japan’s entertainment industry. Nakai’s announcement came after now-defunct boy band empire Johnny & Associates admitted in 2023 that its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa, for decades sexually assaulted teenage boys and young men. Nakai was a member of the now-disbanded SMAP — part of Johnny & Associates’s lucrative stable — that swept the charts in Japan and across Asia during the band’s nearly 30 years of fame. Reports emerged last month that Nakai, 52, who since
EYEING A SOLUTION: In unusually critical remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said he was ‘destroying Russia by not making a deal’ US President Donald Trump on Wednesday stepped up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a peace deal with Ukraine, threatening tougher economic measures if Moscow does not agree to end the war. Trump’s warning in a social media post came as the Republican seeks a quick solution to a grinding conflict that he had promised to end before even starting his second term. “If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
RSS