Thai family grieves for daughter in Jeju Air crash

JejuAir Co

30/12/2024 06:19

BANGKOK, Dec 30 (Reuters) - A family in northeastern
Thailand are mourning the loss of Jongluk Duangmanee, one of two
Thai nationals of the Jeju Air crash, and wish to bring her body
home for a religious ceremony.
    All 175 passengers and four of the six crew were killed when
the Boeing 737-800 crash-landed and skidded off the end of the
runway at South Korea's Muan International Airport on Sunday. 
    Boonchuay Duangmanee, 77, said he must come to terms with
his 45-year-old daughter's sudden death.
    "I can only accept it, make peace with it," he told state
broadcaster Thai PBS. "No matter what I do, my daughter won't
come back."
    He had felt a "sense of unease" when neighbours told him of
the Jeju Air crash, he added, as his daughter often travelled
with the airline.
    Jongluk, the third youngest in the family, had been working
in South Korea for seven years and would visit her home in Udon
Thani, about 500 km (310 miles) north of the Thai capital, every
year.
    Boonchuay said he wants to bring his daughter's body home
for a proper religious ceremony as other relatives gathered at
the family's home.
    Bird strikes and poor weather are among possible reasons
South Korean investigators are examining for the crash.
    The accident was the worst for any South Korean airline
since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed more than 200.

 (Reporting Napat Wesshasartar; Writing by Chayut Setboonsarng;
Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
 ((chayut.setboonsarng@thomsonreuters.com; +66854849033;))