At the crash site at Muan Airport, you get a really strong sense of just how sudden and catastrophic it all was.

There is an eerie quiet as the army sifts through the wreckage, picking up tiny bits of debris and placing them in small plastic bags.

Tens of metres from the plane you can see countless passenger seats ripped apart and broken bits of aircraft equipment everywhere.

Only the tail of the plane is visible – most of it is destroyed. Engulfed by flames, it’s clear passengers had next to no chance of surviving this horrific disaster.

Live updates: South Korea plane crash

In the airport, a morgue has been established, and families are gathered – all in grief, but some still waiting for their loved ones to be officially identified.

They are sat in mournful silence – the arrivals board now carrying the names of those on board.

Sheltered tents have been erected to give families privacy. There’s a stillness and shock that hangs in the air.

Read more:
Pilot reported bird strike before crash
Tough questions for airline bosses

Many of those on board were returning from a Christmas holiday to Thailand. Now the loved ones they’ve left behind are gathering at a memorial altar – trying to process the aftermath of South Korea’s worst-ever aviation disaster.

There is a cruel choreography to the aftermath of the national tragedy playing out on an acute and horrifying level for the families of the dead.

Relatives look exhausted. Some have slept on the terminal floor, desperately waiting for official confirmation.

Then, suddenly a man comes to the microphone and starts to read out a list of eight individuals and asks their families to go to gate one.

Relatives quickly huddle together and rush outside to a bus that’s waiting to take them to the mortuary.

It is a gruesome process ahead for them. Many of the bodies are in a very poor condition. They can only be identified through DNA testing and fingerprints.

As they wait to board the bus, a group of women starts to weep. It is an outpouring of grief in a society that prioritises privacy. Most are simply too upset to talk.

But at a briefing, frustration is boiling over. Some relatives are shouting at officials, angry they’ve still not been able to see their loved ones’ bodies.

The official tells them they are sorting through more than 600 body parts and are trying hard to avoid any mistakes. It is an uncomfortable truth that’s hard for many to hear.

US President Joe Biden says the world has lost a “remarkable leader” and a “man for all time” after the death of Jimmy Carter.

Mr Carter, who was US president between 1977 and 1981, died at his home in Georgia while surrounded by his family on Sunday afternoon.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was aged 100.

Read more: ‘Jimmy who?’ The US president 1970s America really needed

Making a televised address from his family holiday in the US Virgin Islands, Mr Biden said his predecessor represented “the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away”.

“Jimmy Carter stands as a model for it means to live a life of meaning and purpose,” he said.

“I see a man not only not our times, but for all time. We could all do well to be a little more like Jimmy Carter.”

Asked if there were any lessons president-elect Donald Trump could learn from Mr Carter, Mr Biden answered: “Decency, decency, decency”.

It was revealed in February last year that Mr Carter was receiving hospice care and would “spend his remaining time at home with his family”.

He had decided against “additional medical intervention” following a series of brief hospital stays.

The Carter Center says there will be opportunities for the public to pay their respects in Atlanta, Georgia, and Washington DC before a private interment in his hometown Plains, while final arrangements for his state funeral are still being made.

Mr Biden says his team is “working to see to it that he is remembered appropriately.”

Among those who have paid tribute to Mr Carter are:

US president-elect Donald Trump

The incoming US president Donald Trump, who takes office on 20 January, said: “The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country, and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans.

“For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.”

Former US president Barack Obama

Fellow Democrat Barack Obama honoured Mr Carter’s achievements in the White House, including “the Camp David Accords he brokered that reshaped the Middle East… nominating a pioneering women’s rights activist and lawyer named Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the federal bench… [and] becoming one of the first leaders in the world to recognise the problem of climate change”.

He also paid tribute to the “longest, and most impactful, post-presidency in American history”, during which he monitored more than 100 national elections, helped virtually eliminate Guinea worm disease, and built or repaired thousands of homes around the world with his wife Rosalynn as part of Habitat for Humanity.

Former US president George W Bush

Mr Bush said his predecessor “dignified the office”.

“And his efforts to leave behind a better world didn’t end with the presidency. His work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center set an example of service that will inspire Americans for generations.”

Bill and Hillary Clinton

Former president Bill Clinton, who worked with Jimmy Carter after he left the White House, and secretary Hillary Clinton said he “lived to serve others – until the very end”.

“From his commitment to civil rights as a state senator and governor of Georgia; to his efforts as president to… secure peace between Egypt and Israel at Camp David; to his post-presidential efforts at the Carter Center supporting honest elections, advancing peace, combating disease, and promoting democracy… he worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world,” they said in a statement.

Former US vice president Al Gore

Mr Gore praised Jimmy Carter for living “a life full of purpose, commitment and kindness” and for being a “lifelong role model for the entire environmental movement”.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer

In his tribute, Sir Keir said Mr Carter “redefined the post-presidency with a remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights at home and abroad”.

The King

The UK’s monarch said he learned of President Carter’s death with “great sadness”, adding that he was “a committed public servant, and devoted his life to promoting peace and human rights”.

The King added: “His dedication and humility served as an inspiration to many, and I remember with great fondness his visit to the United Kingdom in 1977.

“My thoughts and prayers are with President Carter’s family and the American people at this time.”

Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown

Mr Brown said he was “so sad” to hear of the death of his “good friend”.

The former UK leader said Mr Carter would be “rightly remembered as a statesman of unimpeachable integrity, who was admired around the world for his lifelong charitable work, his unwavering support for human rights and for his wonderful generosity of spirit”.

French President Emmanuel Macron

“Throughout his life, Jimmy Carter defended the rights of the most vulnerable people and tirelessly led the fight for peace,” the French president wrote on X.

“France sends its heartfelt thoughts to his family and to the American people.”

Husam Zomlot, former Palestinian ambassador to the US

Mr Zomlot, now ambassador to the UK, said Mr Carter would be “remembered by the Palestinian people as the first US president to advocate for the freedom of Palestine and the first to warn about Israeli apartheid”.

He added: “He worked for decades to achieve a just and lasting peace in Palestine and the rest of the region.”

Chip Carter

Mr Carter’s son Chip said: “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights and unselfish love.

“My brothers, sister and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs.

“The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honouring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”

Aviation experts have said airport authorities in South Korea should face serious questions over the concrete wall that a plane collided with killing 179 people.

Leading air safety expert David Learmount told Sky News the collision with the wall that supported a guidance system at the end of the runway was the “defining moment” of the disaster.

“Not only is there no justification [for it to be there], I think it’s verging on criminal to have it there,” he said.

Live updates: South Korea plane crash

Witnesses reported seeing large numbers of birds around the runway shortly before the crash and the control tower had warned the pilot of the possibility of a bird strike. A minute later the plane sent out a mayday signal.

When the plane landed on its second attempt at 9.03am, its landing gear was not deployed.

Mr Learmount believes the people on board had a good chance of survival once the pilot had got the plane on to the ground despite travelling at high speed.

“He [the pilot] has brought it down beautifully given the circumstances, they are going very fast but the plane is still intact as it slides along the ground,” he said.

As it reached the end of the airfield and struck the wall, the plane was almost instantly destroyed.

“That kind of structure should not be there,” he said.

“That is awful. That is unbelievably awful.”

Muan International Airport opened in 2007 and has become a busy regional hub in the south of the country. It is managed by the state-owned Korea Airports Corporation.

Satellite maps show the concrete structure has stood at the southern end of the runway close to the perimeter fence for many years.

Read More:
Everything we know about deadly crash
South Korea’s worst aviation disaster

It holds the instrument landing system which helps pilots land at night or when visibility is poor.

At most airports these systems are placed on collapsible structures.

“To have a hard object about 200m or less into the overrun, I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere ever before,” Mr Learmount added.

If the plane had not struck the wall he suggested it would have hit through a perimeter fence, travelled over a road and likely stopped in an adjacent field.

“There was plenty of space for the aircraft to have slowed down, come to a halt,” Mr Learmount said.

“And I think everybody would have been alive… the pilots might have suffered some damage going through the security fence or something like that. But I even suspect they might have survived.”

Another aviation expert Sally Gethin said she shared concerns about the location of the wall but disagreed that everyone would have survived.

Ms Gethin said it “seemed to be maintaining speed, so even if there had been more space at the end of the runway it could have possibly ended up being catastrophic”.

The country’s deputy transport minister Joo Jong-wan said the runway’s 2,800m length was not a contributing factor in the crash – and maintained that walls at the ends were built to industry standards.