With their funerals, all the victims have been buried, nearly two weeks after the fatal crash of a Jeju Air flight which claimed 179 lives at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province on Dec. 29. Until the previous day, the obsequies for the other 177 victims had been completed across the country.
Around 400 provincial officials in South Jeolla Province have been providing daily necessities and various forms of support to the bereaved families of the victims, who had stayed in makeshift shelters near the airport until the victims' remains were recovered.
Since the city has been designated a special disaster zone shortly after the tragedy, they are also eligible for financial aid, medical support, and other relief assistance including long-term mental health counseling and psychological treatment for those with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The city's governor Kim Young-rok pledged to "continue looking for ways to support them and help them regain the strength to move forward."
The victims' families will gather at the crash site this weekend to discuss compensation for the disaster and other support measures.
Meanwhile, a joint investigation with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the aircraft's manufacturer, Boeing is underway to determine the cause of the country's deadliest aviation disaster.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport on Thursday, about 17 pieces of bird feathers and bloodstains found on the engines of the crashed aircraft were sent to the National Institute of Biological Resources for analysis.
The Jeju Air flight en route from Bangkok, carrying 175 passengers and six crew members, crashed after its landing gear failed, claiming 179 lives, with only two crew members being rescued.
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