Of the 175 passengers who died in the Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 crash, 103 were aged at least 50, while 14 were under the age of 20. - Photo: EPA-EFE
SEOUL: Many of the 175 passengers who died in the Jeju Air Flight 2216 crash on Sunday (Dec 29) had been families on year-end trips, some of whom were children travelling overseas for the first time in their lives.
Among them was a 43-year-old man surnamed Koh, who worked at the promotions department for the Kia Tigers professional baseball team. Koh, his wife and his three-year-old son had been on their first overseas trip as a family.
“My son’s heading overseas for the first time on a night-time flight... The extensive schedule (of the trip) exhausted me, but I’m happy because my son had a great time,” Koh wrote on his Instagram page, telling details about their trip to Bangkok with a photo of his son looking out the window.
Retired pitcher Kim Byung-hyun, who briefly played for the Tigers, paid his respects to Koh and his family on his social media page.
“I’ve been pressing ‘like’ for pictures of my friend, his wife and their three-year-old son, having a great time in Thailand... It gives me great pain, and my condolences go to all the bereaved family members (of the victims),” he wrote on Instagram.
Sportscaster Jeong Woo-yeong of SBS Sports paid a tribute on his Instagram page for Koh and his family.
“He (Koh) was great at his work, and the entire baseball broadcast team liked him. Me among them, of course... I want to pay condolences to him, his family and the Tigers,” he wrote.
Two newly-weds returning from their honeymoon were also among the victims of the crash, just two weeks after they tied the knot at a ceremony on Dec 13.
A 32-year-old woman who was about to get married next spring was also among those who took the flight.
A father who took his two sons on a trip to Bangkok was found to have died in the tragedy as well. The family was celebrating the elder son recently being accepted to university.
A 30-year-old reporter at a Gwangju-based media outlet was one of the passengers, along with her 33-year-old husband.
The vacation was a reward from the reporter’s company. She had posted a photo of a hotel swimming pool in Bangkok on her Instagram page, saying: “The weather here is so great, it’s like early summer.”
A 50-year-old woman aboard the flight took the trip after surviving year-long cancer treatment.
It was her first overseas trip since her honeymoon with her husband, who died three years ago.
The oldest victim in the accident, a 79-year-old man, was returning from a trip that was arranged by his family. His wife, two daughters and one of his son-in-laws, his granddaughter and three grandsons were also on board.
Forty-one of the passengers aboard the flight were on the return leg of a package tour that left Muan International Airport on Christmas night.
Of the 175 passengers, 103 were at least 50 years old, while 14 were under the age of 20.
The Ministry of Education on Dec 30 announced that four of the victims were in elementary school, three in middle school, three in high school, and one was attending a local daycare centre. - The Korea Herald/ANN
