Plane with 176 on board catches fire at South Korean airport; three injured

A passenger plane’s tail caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in South Korea on Tuesday night, prompting the evacuation of all 176 people on board, including 169 passengers and seven crew members.
All were safely evacuated, with three individuals sustaining injuries, but their condition was non-serious, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The Air Busan flight, which was preparing for departure to Hong Kong from the southeastern city of Busan, faced the incident before takeoff, at around 10:15 pm local time (1315 GMT), the ministry of transport said in a statement. No information on the cause of the fire was given. The fire has been completely extinguished.

This event comes weeks after a fatal crash involving a Jeju Air passenger plane at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea that resulted in 181 fatalities. On December 29, a Boeing 737-800 skidded off the runway after its landing gear failed to deploy, crashing into a concrete structure and bursting into flames. The victims were primarily South Korean nationals, with two Thai nationals among the deceased. An investigation report released Monday said there were traces of bird strikes in the engine of the aircraft.