A fire aboard an Air Busan Airbus A321 at South Korea’s Gimhae International Airport left seven people injured, authorities confirmed Wednesday. The aircraft, which was preparing for departure to Hong Kong on Tuesday night, caught fire in its rear section, prompting an emergency evacuation of all 169 passengers and seven crew members via inflatable slides.
Authorities initially reported three injuries but revised the number to seven, with one person currently hospitalized. Most injuries were minor, officials said.
The blaze severely damaged nearly half of the aircraft’s fuselage, though its wings and engines remained intact. “It is unclear when we will be able to disclose the investigation findings on the cause of last night’s fire,” a transport ministry spokesperson told AFP.
Dramatic images from the scene showed flames engulfing the plane and thick smoke billowing from the cabin. By Wednesday morning, photographs revealed a gaping hole where the upper fuselage had been burned away.
While the transport ministry has not confirmed the fire’s cause, local media reports suggest it may have started in the overhead bin after a passenger’s portable battery was compressed. “It seems that a fire broke out when a passenger’s portable battery, stored in the overhead bin as carry-on luggage, became compressed,” JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing an unnamed Air Busan official.
A passenger recounted the frantic evacuation, saying, “As the smoke filled the cabin, a passenger seated near the emergency exit opened the door, and the flight attendant opened the opposite one, allowing others to start evacuating.” The passenger described the scene as “chaotic and terrifying,” according to Yonhap News Agency.
The incident comes just weeks after South Korea’s deadliest aviation disaster in decades. On December 29, a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash-landed in Muan after flying from Thailand, killing 179 of the 181 people on board.
“In the wake of the Jeju Air passenger aircraft tragedy, an additional aviation accident has taken place, and we feel deeply sorry for the passengers on board and the public,” Transport Minister Park Sang-woo said in a statement Wednesday.
Investigations into the cause of the Air Busan fire are ongoing.
