Anguish for South Korea plane crash relatives amid grim salvage

Cries of anguish echoed through a lounge at Muan International Airport in South Korea on Monday as families waited for news of relatives killed in the weekend's Jeju Air plane crash.

The Boeing 737-800 from Thailand crashed Sunday while attempting an emergency belly landing, smashing into a wall and bursting into flames.

All but two of the 181 passengers and crew aboard were killed.

Grieving families are increasingly desperate -- and angry -- as they wait for formal identification of the remains of their loved ones, hoping to hold funerals and properly mourn.

"I apologise deeply... but the extent of the damage to the bodies is profound," an official told families at a briefing Monday, trying to explain the immense hurdles facing workers trying to recover remains while also preserving crash-site evidence.

"There are many cases in which arms and legs have been severed," he said, his words causing cries of shock and horror among the waiting families.

Using finger prints and DNA analysis, authorities have identified 146 of the victims, and are working hard on the 33 still to be verified.

- Human remains -

Soldiers were still combing through wetlands near the airport -- apparently looking for body parts -- and an AFP reporter saw blood-stained seats and splatters of human remains on the ground near the wreckage.

"We estimate that we can reconstruct 80 to 90 percent of the bodies if given a period of 10 days," the official said.

Relatives said they understood the process took time and that the bodies were "heavily damaged", but were desperate for progress.

"We want the authorities to bring our loved ones back, even if they are only 80 percent intact," Park Han-shin, who represents the victims’ relatives, told reporters.

"The temperature is rising rapidly, even though it is winter, which could lead to a situation where the remains decompose quickly," he said, calling for stepped-up search efforts in the crash zone.

He also called on the officials to bring more refrigerated containers for the remains.

The anger of the grieving relatives was palpable the night of the accident, when Jeju Air's CEO Kim E-bae, visited the families for the first time, bowing his head before them.

"With a heart full of sorrow, I express my condolences and sympathies to those who lost their lives in this accident. I also sincerely apologise to the bereaved families," he said.

- 'Save my daughter' -

But video circulating online showed family members shouting at Kim asking him why he came so late -- eleven hours after the accident.

"It only takes one hour and 40 minutes to get from Seoul to Gwangju by KTX, so what have you been doing? What are you trying to achieve by showing up only now?" yelled one family member.

Others shouted "save my daughter!" and "would you have done that if it was your own flesh and blood?"

At the crash site, the devastating impact of the accident was still evident Monday, with blood-stained debris -- seats, and twisted metal -- strewn across the site, and the smell of burning and blood lingering.

"It's heartbreaking," 71-year-old housewife Ms Yoo told AFP, saying her brother had been on the plane.