South Korea plane crash: 62 now confirmed dead says fire agency

Sixty-two people are confirmed dead after a Jeju Air plane crashed on landing in South Korea, the country's fire agency said Sunday, with dramatic video showing the aircraft bursting into flames.

"So far two rescued, 62 dead," the national fire agency said in a statement, adding that 25 of the victims were male, 37 female.

Video shared by the local MBC broadcaster showed the Jeju Air plane -- a Boeing 737-8AS according to Flight Radar -- landing at the Muan airport runway, with smoke streaming out from the engines, before the entire aircraft was quickly engulfed in flames.

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

"So far, two rescued and 62 confirmed dead," the National Fire Agency said in a statement, with the rescue operation ongoing.

Lee Hyeon-ji, a response team officer at the local fire department, had earlier warned that "the tally could rise due to the critically injured".

Rescue authorities were evacuating passengers from the rear section of the jet, Lee said.

A photo showed the tail section of the jet engulfed in flames on what appeared to be the side of the runway, with firefighters and emergency vehicles nearby.

The Muan International Airport is in Muan county, which is about 288 kilometres (179 miles) southwest of Seoul.

The fire agency said it had mobilised 32 fire engines and scores of fire fighters to the scene.

The accident took place at 9:03 am (1203 GMT) on Sunday during the landing of Jeju Air Flight 2216, the Ministry of Land said.

"A total of 175 passengers (including two Thai nationals) and six crew members were onboard," it said.

The initial fire was extinguished and a search and rescue operations was "under way at the crash site", it said in a statement at around 11:00 am local.