ROME (AP) — Atalanta’s winning streak ended at 11 matches after drawing at fourth-placed Lazio 1-1 in Serie A on Saturday.
Substitute Marco Brescianini's late equalizer meant the Bergamo squad remained atop Serie A.
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Atalanta's Ademola Lookman, right, duels for the ball with Lazio's Fisayo Dele-Bashiru during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Atalanta, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Atalanta's head coach Gian Piero Gasperini reacts during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Atalanta, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Atalanta's Ademola Lookman reacts during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Atalanta, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Lazio's Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's opening goal during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Atalanta, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Atalanta's Ademola Lookman, left, celebrates after Atalanta's Marco Brescianini, right, scoring his side's opening goal during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Atalanta, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Genoa's head coach Patrick Vieira, left, and Empoli's head coach Roberto D'Aversa hug before the Serie A soccer match between Empoli and Genoa at the Carlo Castellani stadium in Empoli, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Marco Bucco/LaPresse via AP)
Inter Milan's coach Simone Inzaghi waits for the start of the Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Inter Milan at the Unipol Domus stadium in Cagliari, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Gianluca Zuddas/LaPresse via AP)
Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal during the Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Inter Milan at the Unipol Domus stadium in Cagliari, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Gianluca Zuddas/LaPresse via AP)
Inter Milan's Alessandro Bastoni, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Inter Milan at the Unipol Domus stadium in Cagliari, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Gianluca Zuddas/LaPresse via AP)
Inter Milan's Nicolò Barella challenges for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Inter Milan at the Unipol Domus stadium in Cagliari, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Gianluca Zuddas/LaPresse via AP)
Four minutes after he went on, Brescianini finished off a counterattack set up by Nicolo Zaniolo and Ademola Lookman.
Fisayo Dele-Bashiru scored midway through the first half for Lazio after receiving a ball over the top and blasting past onrushing goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi.
Atalanta was left one point ahead of defending champion Inter Milan, which won at Cagliari 3-0 earlier and also has a match in hand.
Atalanta will face Inter in its next match on Thursday, in the semifinals of the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Juventus plays AC Milan in the other semifinal.
Atalanta was without leading scorer Mateo Retegui, who injured his left leg against Empoli last weekend.
Thirteen goals scored. Zero conceded. Four wins in four matches across all competitions.
Ever since a 1-0 loss at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League this month, Inter has been perfect.
Inter's latest performance was decided with two assists from Nicolò Barella.
Alessandro Bastoni put Inter ahead with a looping header following a cross from Barella after the break.
Lautaro Martinez scored his first Serie A goal in nearly two months by volleying in another cross from Barella.
Then Hakan Calhanoglu converted a penalty.
Earlier, Patrick Vieira’s Genoa won at Empoli 2-1 with goals from Milan Badelj and Caleb Ekuban; and Parma beat last-placed Monza 2-1 with a header from Lautaro Rodrigo Valenti eight minutes into stoppage time to spoil the debut of new Monza coach Salvatore Bocchetti.
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Atalanta's Ademola Lookman, right, duels for the ball with Lazio's Fisayo Dele-Bashiru during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Atalanta, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Atalanta's head coach Gian Piero Gasperini reacts during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Atalanta, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Atalanta's Ademola Lookman reacts during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Atalanta, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Lazio's Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's opening goal during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Atalanta, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Atalanta's Ademola Lookman, left, celebrates after Atalanta's Marco Brescianini, right, scoring his side's opening goal during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Atalanta, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Genoa's head coach Patrick Vieira, left, and Empoli's head coach Roberto D'Aversa hug before the Serie A soccer match between Empoli and Genoa at the Carlo Castellani stadium in Empoli, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Marco Bucco/LaPresse via AP)
Inter Milan's coach Simone Inzaghi waits for the start of the Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Inter Milan at the Unipol Domus stadium in Cagliari, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Gianluca Zuddas/LaPresse via AP)
Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal during the Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Inter Milan at the Unipol Domus stadium in Cagliari, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Gianluca Zuddas/LaPresse via AP)
Inter Milan's Alessandro Bastoni, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Inter Milan at the Unipol Domus stadium in Cagliari, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Gianluca Zuddas/LaPresse via AP)
Inter Milan's Nicolò Barella challenges for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Inter Milan at the Unipol Domus stadium in Cagliari, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Gianluca Zuddas/LaPresse via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A passenger plane burst into flames Sunday after it skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport and slammed into a concrete fence when its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy. Most of the 181 people on board died in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters.
The Jeju Air passenger plane crashed while landing in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Seoul. The Transport Ministry said the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet that was returning from Bangkok and that the crash happened at 9:03 a.m.
At least 176 people — 83 women, 82 men and 11 others whose genders weren’t immediately identifiable — died in the fire, the South Korean fire agency said. Emergency workers pulled two people, both crew members, to safety. Health officials said they are conscious and not in life-threatening condition.
Three people remained missing about nine hours after the incident.
The fire agency deployed 32 fire trucks and several helicopters to contain the blaze. About 1,560 firefighters, police officers, soldiers and other officials were also sent to the site, it said.
Footage of the crash aired by South Korean television channels showed the Jeju Air plane skidding across the airstrip at high speed, apparently with its landing gear still closed, overrunning the runway and colliding head-on with a concrete wall on the outskirts of the facility, triggering an explosion. Other local TV stations aired footage showing thick plumes of black smoke billowing from the plane, which was engulfed in flames.
Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, told a televised briefing that the plane was completely destroyed, with only the tail assembly remaining recognizable among the wreckage. Lee said that workers were looking into various possibilities about what caused the crash, including whether the aircraft was struck by birds, Lee said.
Transport Ministry officials later said their early assessment of communication records show the airport control tower issued a bird strike warning to the plane shortly before it intended to land and gave its pilot permission to land in a different area. The pilot sent out a distress signal shortly before the plane went past the runway and skidded across a buffer zone before hitting the wall, the officials said.
Senior Transport Ministry official Joo Jong-wan said workers have retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of the plane’s black box, which will be examined by government experts investigating the cause of the crash and fire. Joo said the runway at the Muan airport will be closed until Jan. 1.
The Transport Ministry said the plane’s passengers include two Thai nationals. Thailand’s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, expressed deep condolences to the families of those affected by the accident in a post on social platform X. Paetongtarn said she ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide assistance immediately.
Kerati Kijmanawat, the director of Airports of Thailand, confirmed in a statement that Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport with no reports of abnormal conditions with the aircraft or on the runway.
Jeju Air in a statement expressed its “deep apology” over the crash and said it will do its “utmost to manage the aftermath of the accident.”
In a televised news conference, Kim E-bae, Jeju Air’s president, bowed deeply with other senior company officials as he apologized to bereaved families and said he feels “full responsibility” for the incident. Kim said the company hadn’t identified any mechanical problems with the aircraft following regular checkups and that he would wait for the results of government investigations into the cause of the incident.
Family members wailed as officials announced the names of some victims at a lounge in the Muan airport.
Boeing said in a statement on X it was in contact with Jeju Air and is ready to support the company in dealing with the crash.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew,” Boeing said.
It’s one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history. The last time South Korea suffered a large-scale air disaster was in 1997, when a Korean Airline plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines plane crash-landed in San Francisco, killing three and injuring approximately 200.
Sunday’s accident was also one of the worst landing mishaps since a July 2007 crash that killed all 187 people on board and 12 others on the ground when an Airbus A320 slid off a slick airstrip in Sao Paulo and collided with a nearby building, according to data compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation, a nonprofit group aimed at improving air safety. In 2010, 158 people died when an Air India Express aircraft overshot a runway in Mangalore, India, and plummeted into a gorge before erupting into flames, according to the safety foundation.
The incident came as South Korea is embroiled into a huge political crisis triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s stunning imposition of martial law and ensuing impeachment. Last Friday, South Korean lawmakers impeached acting President Han Duck-soo and suspended his duties, leading Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok to take over.
Choi ordered officials to employ all available resources to rescue the passengers and crew before he headed to Muan. Yoon’s office said his chief secretary, Chung Jin-suk, will preside over an emergency meeting between senior presidential staff later on Sunday to discuss the crash.
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Associated Press journalists Bobby Caina Calvan in New York and Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul and Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok contributed to this report.
Relatives of passengers gather at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, after a passenger plane crashed at the airport. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Relatives of passengers watch the news regarding the plane crash at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Rescue team carry the body of a passenger at the site of a plane fire at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Tourists check an electronic board departure schedule at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Chatkla Samnaingjam)
Rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
South Korean army soldiers work outside of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A tourist walks beside an office of the Jeju Air at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Chatkla Samnaingjam)
Firefighters and rescue team members work outside of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
In this photo provided by South Korea's Muan Fire Station, a passenger plane is in flames at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (South Korea's Muan Fire Station via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work near the wreckage of a passenger plane at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Firefighters and rescue team members work near the wreckage of a passenger plane at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae, fourth from left, and other executive members bow in apology ahead of a briefing in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024 after its passenger plane burst into flames at an airport in the town of Muan. (Im Hun-jung/Yonhap via AP)
Family members of the passengers on a plane which burst into flames, weep at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Park Ki-woong/Newsis via AP)
An official from fire station briefs to the family members of the passengers on a plane which burst into flames, at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Park Ki-woong/Newsis via AP)
In this photo provided by South Korea's Muan Fire Station, a passenger plane is in flames at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (South Korea's Muan Fire Station via AP)
Rescue team members work near the wreckage of a passenger plane outside of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Rescue team members work near the wreckage of a passenger plane outside of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Rescue team members work outside of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Firefighters and rescue team members work near the wreckage of a passenger plane at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)
A victim rescued from a plane crash is transported to a hospital in Mokpo, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Geun-young/Yonhap via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)
People watch as firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Lee Young-ju/Newsis via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work on the runway of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Lee Young-ju/Newsis via AP)
A rescue team works to extinguish a fire at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work on the runway of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Lee Young-ju/Newsis via AP)
Fire engines work to extinguish a fire at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)
Firefighters and rescue team members work at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)
A rescue team prepares to work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire off the runway of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)
