South Korean police have raided Muan International Airport and Jeju Air’s office just days after a deadly plane crash claimed the lives of 179 people shortly after Christmas. On Thursday, the Jeonanam Provincial Police launched a search and seizure operation into the airport, which is located in the southwest area of South Korea, as well as the airline’s office in the capital city Seoul.

Authorities also swarmed the Muan office of the Busan Regional Office of Aviation, Yonhap News Agency reported. According to officials, police also issued a search warrant for professional negligence resulting in death.

Police said in a statement: “In relation to the plane accident that occurred on December 29, a search and seizure operation is being conducted from 9 a.m. on January 2 at three locations.”

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A view from the scene after a Jeju Air plane crashed after experiencing problems with its landing gear (

Image:

Anadolu via Getty Images)

Thursday’s search is the latest development in the ongoing investigation behind the crash of a 15-year-old Jeju Airline Boeing 737-800 last week, which horrified the world when it b urst into flames across the Muan Airport runway on Sunday.

Of the 181 passengers on board, only two survived, with the other 179 passengers having been killed when the plane kidded off a runway as it landed and smashed into a wall. Since the tragedy, South Korea has been in a period of mourning, with their annual New Year celebration on January 1st also marked by a period of silent reflection instead of the usual countdown full of cheers.

A Jeju Air official (C) bows his head and apologises to the bereaved families of passengers of the Jeju Air passenger plane that crashed (

Image:

YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images)

According to South Korea’s emergency office, the jet’s landing gear seemingly malfunctioned during the crash, and came shortly after a bird appeared to strike the plane in mid-air, which is another possibility being considered as to the cause of the fatal crash. The death toll includes at least 82 men and 83 women, according to the National Fire Agency, and audible wails were heard in the airport’s arrivals hall as the names of some 22 dead passengers were read to the anxiously waiting families, after being identified by only their fingerprints.

Two crew members who had been located in the tail section of the burning plane, a man and a woman, were able to defy the odds and were miraculously rescued from the wreckage alive. The crash itself stands as one of the deadliest disasters to ever take place in South Korean aviation history.

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