A passenger jet carrying 181 people crashed on Sunday morning while landing at Muan International Airport in the country's southwestern region, killing at least 85 people.

According to the Korea Airports Corporation and fire authorities of South Jeolla Province, a Jeju Air plane carrying 175 passengers and six flight attendants veered off the runway and crashed into a fence while landing at the airport at 9:07 a.m. Sunday.

With the impact of the crash, the aircraft broke in half and caught fire.

Fire authorities said the number of deaths rose to 85 with two people rescued as of 1 p.m.

Authorities said that the plane's landing gear appears to have failed to deploy, causing the crash.

Police and fire authorities initially extinguished the fire and are conducting rescue operations starting from the tail section of the aircraft.