Fire breaks out on plane in South Korea with 170 passengers onboard

28 January 2025, 15:35 | Updated: 28 January 2025, 16:14

The tail of a passenger plane with 176 people on board has caught fire before take-off at an airport in South Korea.

The blaze broke out while the Air Busan flight was grounded at an airport in Busan in southern South Korea.

The Air Busan plane at Gimhae International Airport in the south-eastern city of Busan was bound for Hong Kong, Yonhap news agency reported.

The 169 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated using an inflatable slide, the report said, adding that three people were injured but their condition wasn't serious.

The plane was seen alight at 10:30pm local time (1:30pm GMT).

Firefighters were onsite at Gimhae International Airport to put out the plane.

It is not yet clear how the fire started.

Graphic shows location where plane caught fire in South Korea

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It comes after an a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea, killing all but two of the 181 people on board in December.

The Boeing 737-800 skidded off the airport's runaway on December 29 after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into a concrete structure and bursting into flames.

The flight was returning from Bangkok and all of the victims were South Koreans except for two Thai nationals.