The 179 passengers were aged between three and 78, although most were in their 40s, 50s and 60s, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. Two Thai nationals were among the dead, and the rest are believed to be from South Korea, authorities said.
Five of the dead were children under the age of 10, and the youngest passenger, a little boy, was only three years old.
According to the Yonhap news agency, one man in his sixties said five members of his family spanning three generations were on the plane, including his daughter-in-law, his daughter, her husband and their young children.
Many of the passengers were celebrating the Christmas holidays in Thailand and were returning home.
A cousin of one of the victims, Jongluk Dungmani, told BBC Thai she was “shocked” when she heard the news.
“I got goosebumps. I couldn’t believe it,” Pornfichaya Chalermsin said.
She spent more than two weeks in Thailand visiting her family and traveling around the northern city of Chiang Mai with her husband.
