Police raid land ministry over Jeju Air crash
Police special investigation team searches the airport operation department of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport at the Government Complex Sejong, Friday. Yonhap
Police raided the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Friday to secure material for its investigation into the 2024 Jeju Air plane crash that killed 179 people.
A special team handling the probe said it sent investigators to the ministry headquarters in the central administrative city of Sejong at 8:40 a.m. to seize supplementary material.
Investigators are looking for leads on the cause of the crash at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29, 2024, and whether the responsible agencies handled it properly, it said.
Four people were listed as suspects on the search warrant, all of whom worked for the ministry's air navigation and airport divisions at the time of the crash.
Police have so far booked 64 people in connection with the tragedy on suspicion of occupational negligence resulting in death or injury and other charges.
The investigation has been looking as far back as the start of the airport's construction in 1999 to determine whether there were any factors that contributed to the disaster.
Some of the victims' remains were recently discovered at the site, prompting President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday to order a thorough investigation into the bungled recovery.