Nation unites to support bereaved families and honor victims

[Anchor]

Warm-hearted support continues to help the bereaved families who are struggling at the airport.

So many volunteers have come together to prepare meals and clean, sharing in the pain.

The number of mourners visiting the national memorial sites has exceeded 150,000.

Reporter Kim Hyun-joo has the details.

[Report]

A temporary storage area set up at Muan Airport is filled to the ceiling with relief supplies.

From ramen and water to fruits and wet wipes, various daily necessities are piled up.

Warm hearts from across the country have gathered, hoping to provide some help to the bereaved families.

Volunteers are busily moving around the airport, preparing meals for the families and taking care of cleaning, sharing in the sorrow of the tragedy.

[Seo Gi-soo/Volunteer: "I have been volunteering continuously since Monday. I came the day after hearing the news of the accident. As a citizen, it feels so heartbreaking, as if my own family had passed away."]

More than 2,600 volunteers through the Jeonnam Volunteer Center are pouring into the airport every day.

Medical staff are also carefully looking after the exhausted bereaved families at the airport medical support center.

[Park Sung-joo/Korean Medicine Doctor: "It is such a heartbreaking situation, and many have become physically weak as a result. I start by listening to the patients’ discomforts and concerns."]

The Jeonnam Provincial Office has requested prior consultations, noting that while donations of certain items are abundant, essential supplies are sometimes lacking.

[Heo Gang-sook/Director of Jeollanam-do Volunteer Center: "We are deeply grateful for the warm hearts. However, due to the airport’s spatial limitations, we are running short on storage space for donated items."]

Since the tragedy, over 150,000 mourners have visited more than 100 joint memorial sites set up across the nation to pay their respects to the victims.

This is KBS News, Kim Hyun-joo.