The rear section of a passenger aircraft caught fire at an airport in South Korea on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of 176 people on board. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan but caught fire, the authorities said.
Three people were slightly injured during evacuation, but the fire was completely extinguished. In a statement, the transport ministry said 169 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated down inflatable slides.
South Korea suffered the worst aviation disaster on its soil last month when a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800, flying from Thailand to Muan on December 29, crash-landed and exploded into a fireball after slamming into a concrete barrier. That crash killed 179 of the 181 passengers and crew members on board.
