Heartbreaking moment as loyal dog waits outside the door for his elderly owners who died along with seven members of their family in the South Korean jet tragedy

The faithful dog of an elderly couple killed in the Jeju Air disaster has waited patiently for his owners to return home, heartbreaking video shows, as South Korea continues to mourn the loss of 179 people in the tragedy.

The grandfather who owned the small dog died along with his wife, their daughters, their son-in-law and four grandchildren when Flight 2216 made an emergency landing at Muan International Airport on Sunday.

The 79-year-old, identified by his last name Bae, had been there Thailand during his first-ever trip abroad to celebrate his 80th birthday with his family, local media report.

He had been the oldest passenger on the plane, while his five-year-old granddaughter was among the youngest killed when the plane crashed into a concrete wall at the end of the runway.

The entire family was murdered, leaving only one of the daughter’s husbands – who could not join the trip – to cope with the insurmountable loss of his wife and three children.

The small village of Yeonggwang in the country’s southwest is now mourning the family, with locals describing the “sea of ​​tears” that have been shed since the news broke.

Korean media have shared devastating images of the family home, showing Mr Bae’s white dog wandering around and looking longingly up the road to the house.

Locals have tried to comfort the animal, with one man telling Chosun TV that he had tried to get the animal home, but the devoted pet would return to his home every time.

A bereaved family member spoke of their unimaginable loss. “My youngest son-in-law was left alone in a family of five,” they told KBC.

“(The village head) went to Muan Airport yesterday and said that my son-in-law was in danger. He said we should have gone together and died together.”

It’s just one of hundreds of tragic stories to emerge from the disaster, one of South Korea’s deadliest plane crashes that killed all but two of the 181 people on board.

Five of the people killed in the tragedy were children under the age of ten. The youngest, a three-year-old, was seen in a photo taken days earlier as he flew to Thailand for his first foreign holiday.

The boy’s father, Kang Ko, 43, and his mother Jin Lee Seon, 37, shared photos of their trip on Instagram hours before boarding the doomed flight to South Korea, local media reported.

One of the holiday snaps showed their son excitedly looking out the plane window as they flew to Bangkok, while another heartbreaking post showed the toddler holding his passport.

‘My son is going abroad on an overnight flight for the first time, and his first passport has no stamp!’ Mr Ko captioned the tragic post, which has since been flooded with tributes and messages of condolence for the family.

Mr Ko and Ms Jin had recently celebrated their wedding anniversary, Dong-A Ilbo reported.

Meanwhile, it was reported that another couple on board, in their early 30s, were newlyweds on their honeymoon to Bangkok after getting married on December 13.

Another couple on board the doomed flight, also in their early 30s, were both journalists.

The woman’s father, who had returned to her hometown to become a reporter after graduating from university in Seoul, said he received a text message from his daughter shortly before the plane took off from Bangkok.

“My daughter sent me a photo of her boarding a flight to Korea at 3am,” the devastated father told local media.

‘She said the flight was delayed by 30-40 minutes and would arrive a little later, but I got no response when I contacted her around 9am to ask if she had arrived.’

Meanwhile, a son shared his ‘stunning’ at the loss of his mother, who had just completed treatment for stomach cancer, when she died in the tragedy.

The 50-year-old had been on a golf trip to Bangkok with friends, reportedly her first trip abroad since her honeymoon with her husband, who died three years ago.

The mother, who underwent stomach cancer surgery last fall, had been ill for about a year and had recently completed her treatment, her son told Dong-A Ilbo.

‘I was relieved that my mother was doing better. She was excited about the trip and said I had a good trip, but that’s the way it is.” She also leaves behind a young daughter.

Tributes have poured in for the many victims, with South Korea in a state of mourning after entire families were wiped out in the air disaster.

The dead also included two Thai nationals, one of whom has been identified as a 22-year-old woman named Sirithon Chaue, whose mother had been waiting for her at Muan airport.

Her relatives said today she was fulfilling a lifelong dream of flying to Korea, where her mother lives, in hopes of finding a job as a flight attendant.

In the village of Chiang Rai, close to the border with China, Sirithon’s family and friends have been mourning since news of her death emerged.

Her uncle Theerapat Chaue, 37, said: “My niece loved Korea. She went to visit her mother, who has been working there for ten years. She always dreamed of working there as a flight attendant.

‘Her mother was waiting at the airport and at first thought the plane disruption was minor. But then she saw the videos of what happened on social media. She was in shock and panic.

‘The airline has offered to provide tickets for myself and my two brothers to go to South Korea for the funeral. But maybe we’ll bring her ashes home.”

Many of the people on board the doomed flight had celebrated the Christmas holidays in Thailand and were returning home.

A man in his 60s told local media that five members of his family had been on the plane, including his sister-in-law, his daughter, her husband and their young children.

Jeon Je-young, whose daughter Mi-sook was among the 179 people killed aboard Jeju Airlines Flight 2216, said he still cannot believe what happened.

“When I saw the video of the accident, the plane seemed to be going out of control,” the 71-year-old father said.

‘The pilots probably had no choice but to do it. My daughter, who is only in her mid-40s, ended up like this. This is unbelievable.’

“The water at the airport is not deep,” Jeon told Reuters.

“(There) are softer fields than this cement track. Why couldn’t the pilot land there?’

He added that his daughter was almost safely home so he had seen no reason to call and leave a final message. “She was almost home, she thought she was coming home.”