South Koreans awoke today to the grim news that more than 200 people had died overnight in the crash of a Korean Air flight to Guam, a favourite honeymoon destination.
By dawn, dozens of distraught relatives had gathered, at first silently, at Kimpo International Airport, where the ill-fated Flight KE-801 had taken off the evening before.
Most stood silently in small knots, some telephoning relatives in the city, awaiting news of survivors. But in a special room rented by KAL, tension and grief spilled over into tears, with women collapsing on the floor and others milling around in confusion, crying, watching television, or frantically asking KAL officials to confirm who was dead and who alive. "I hope he will be alive," wept Mr Chung ChanIm (29), whose brother, Mr Chung Yoon (24), was aboard the flight. "I haven't got any confirmation from KAL whether he is dead or not."
He said his brother was a student who had left for a vacation in Guam like many other vacationers including senior opposition MP Mr Shin Ki-Ha and his aides. An elderly woman, with her hands covering her face, burst into tears as she watched the crash site scenes on television. She said her daughter, also a student, was aboard.
For some the anguish turned to anger and several yelled or hurled chairs. "This is outrageous," shouted Im YongGyu (38), whose sister, her husband and mother were headed for a vacation on the plane.
Confusion mounted in and outside the special room, with some accusing KAL of deliberately withholding information of the identity of the survivors. In homes, people listened as television announcers droned through the seemingly endless list of names of the 254 passengers and crew aboard. One station showed CNN film clips of the rescue efforts in Guam. But although CNN put the number of survivors at two hospitals at 30, there were no names.
The Korean President, Mr Kim Young-Sam, extended his "deep regret and sorrow" to the relatives, and ordered his cabinet to suspend all inessential business.
A group of KAL officials and a seven-member government delegation left for Guam aboard a special KAL flight to be on the spot.
The government delegation, led by Mr Song Dae-Yong, an international aviation director at the transport ministry, also included aviation experts and government investigators who will probe the cause of the crash.
A KAL spokesman said the special plane would bring survivors back to Seoul. One observer of the crash scene in Guam, the New Zealand honorary consul, Mr John Scragg, said that when the aircraft came down he did not immediately realise what was happening.
"We heard the turbines and we thought it was fairly low because we are not exactly on the glide path, but close," he said in a telephone interview. "We heard the turbines and I didn't put two and two together and then I heard a crack and I thought the house was cracking."
The plane carried on and into the next valley.
"I had no idea it was a plane crash, it was the furthest thing from one's mind at that particular time of the morning." He said it was likely the Boeing 747 had taken out US naval radio aerials on their side of the hill.
Mr Scragg said the US military, which shares Guam's A B Won Pat International Airport, acted quickly and sealed the area off almost immediately.