'She was almost home': Families mourn after S Korea plane crash

Hundreds of grieving people camped out at Muan International Airport in South Korea are furious that they have not yet seen the bodies of their loved ones who died after a Jeju Air plane crash-landed on Sunday.

Amid angry shouts, police superintendent general Na Won-o explained that the delay was due to officials taking their time to carefully identify all 179 victims, whose bodies were badly damaged in the crash.

"Can you promise that they will be put back together?" a middle-aged man asked, visibly emotional.

Another person asked for the victims' remains to be released as they were, but Na said officials wanted to make their best effort to collect and match as many bodies as they could.

Another 71-year-old father, Jeon Je-young, told the Reuters news agency that his daughter Mi-Sook, who was identified by her fingerprints, had been on her way home after travelling with friends to Bangkok for the festivities.

"My daughter, who is only in her mid-40s, ended up like this," he said, adding that he had last seen her on 21 December, when she brought some food and next year's calendar to his house - that would become their last moment together.

Mi-Sook leaves behind a husband and teenage daughter.

"This is unbelievable", said Jeon.

One woman said her sister, who had been having a tough time decided to visit Thailand as life began to improve for her.

"She's had so many hardships and gone traveling because her situation was only just beginning to improve," she told Yonhap news agency.

The two flight attendants who survived the crash were found in the tail end of the plane, the most intact part of the wreckage.

One was a 33-year-old man, with the surname Lee, who was rushed to a hospital in Mokpo, about 25km (15.5 mi) south of the airport, but was later transferred to Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital in the capital, Yonhap news agency reported.

"When I woke up, I had already been rescued," he told doctors at the hospital, according to its director Ju Woong, who spoke during a press briefing.

The survivor, who suffered multiple fractures, is receiving special care due to the risk of after-effects, including total paralysis, Ju said.

The other survivor, a 25-year-old female flight attendant with the surname Koo, is being treated at Asan Medical Center in eastern Seoul, Yonhap added.

She has sustained head and ankle injuries but is reportedly in a stable condition.

It's not yet known exactly what caused the disaster, but a number of eye witnesses say they could see that the plane was in trouble before the crash.

Restaurant owner Im Young-Hak said he initially thought it was an oil tanker accident.

"I went outside and saw thick, dark smoke. After that, I heard a loud explosion, not from the crash itself. Then there were more explosions – at least seven," he told Reuters.

"We feel bad when accidents happen on the other side of the world, but this happened right here. It's traumatic."

Yoo Jae-yong, 41, who was staying near to the airport, told local media he saw a spark on the right wing shortly before the crash.

Kim Yong-cheol, 70, said the plane failed to land initially and circled back to try again.

He added that he witnessed "black smoke billowing into the sky" after hearing a "loud explosion", Yonhap agency reported.

One firefighter who was dispatched to the scene told Reuters he had never seen something "on this scale".