ADRA Partners with Community After South Korean Plane Crash
3 January 2025 |
On December 29, tragedy struck the Korean Union Conference when a plane crash occurred at Muan International Airport in the South Jeolla Province, South Korea, killing eleven congregants and students.
According to reports, an Adventist lay leader with his wife and son, two Adventist students with their parents, and a congregant on a business trip all died in the crash. The Korean Union Conference and Ted Wilson have released separate statements regarding the devastating incident, requesting prayer and aid for the families of those lost.
The cause of the crash is being investigated, however, according to the initial article by Adventist Review:
“Media outlets reported that the plane coming from Bangkok, Thailand, hit birds in its final approach to the airport. For reasons still under investigation, the pilots were not able to deploy the plane’s landing gear or lower the plane’s flaps in time. After belly landing, the plane, carrying 175 passengers and six crew members, overran the runway, crashed into a concrete wall, and burst into flames. Only two people were rescued alive and taken to healthcare facilities.”
ADRA Honam branch, 200 members from Muan-eup Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the teachers and staff of Honam Sahmyook Adventist school, who lost two students in the crash along with their parents, offered aid. A booth and disaster relief tent has been set up at the passenger terminal of Muan International Airport, to offer support to the victims’ families as well as relief efforts.
“We are checking the situation from time to time, but there is a shortage of supplies for some items,” the head of the ADRA Honam branch, Choi Gyu-sik, said. “We are having extensive discussions about future support measures and countermeasures. We will do our best to adjust the allocation of volunteers and the timetable according to the ever-changing situation on the ground so that there is no shortage of delivering the love of Christ to the bereaved families and related parties.”
