(VOVWORLD) -South Korea’s Acting President Choi Sang Mok on Sunday declared a weeklong national mourning period to honor the victims of the tragic plane crash that killed 179 people earlier that day at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province.
 Scene of the plane crash. Photo: VNA
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The national mourning period began on Sunday and will last until the midnight on Saturday.
According to South Korean authorities, of the 181 passengers and crew on board, 179 people were killed, and 2 were rescued when a Jeju Air flight attempting to land veered off the runway and burst into flames in South Korea's worst domestic aviation disaster to date.
The Acting President designated Muan as a special disaster zone and the state will provide all necessary support for recovery efforts, support for families of the deceased and medical treatment for the injured.
Officials of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of South Korea said that one of the two black boxes of the plane was partially damaged, which could slow down the analysis process to find the cause of the accident.