Recovery continues as bereaved families mourn plane crash victims

[Anchor]

The recovery operations at the site of the passenger plane disaster continued today (1.2).

The first funeral for the victims of the disaster was also held today.

Let's connect to Muan International Airport.

Reporter Lee Won-hee, most of the bereaved families are still unable to leave the airport, right?

[Report]

Yes, the bereaved families are keeping vigil at the disaster site with anxious hearts even as darkness falls.

The recovery and funeral procedures are progressing slowly, and so far, 41 victims have been returned to their families for burial.

This morning, the first funeral ceremony for the victims was held, and in the afternoon, the funeral for one of the two Thai victims was also conducted.

As of now, the identification, autopsy, and examination processes for 133 victims have been completed.

The police are also working on restoring the bodies through DNA testing and comparison.

Let's hear directly from the head of the investigation team.

[Na Won-oh/Head of Jeju Air Passenger Plane Accident Investigation Team: "Every day, police helicopters are sending the DNA samples collected from the site directly to the National Forensic Service twice a day, in the morning and evening."]

It appears it will take more time before the recovery process is fully completed, but bereaved families are urging for faster progress.

In the meantime, Gwangju Metropolitan City has announced plans to set up a memorial space for the victims at Yeongnak Park for the bereaved families in the Gwangju-Jeonnam area.

This afternoon, during the investigation into the cause of the accident, sparks flew, and smoke rose while cutting parts of the aircraft near the crash site. Firefighters nearby promptly extinguished the fire.

This has been Lee Won-hee from KBS News at Muan International Airport.