Local media reported on a handwritten note, seemingly written by the pilot’s brother, that was placed alongside gimbap – a popular Korean dish made from cooked rice, vegetables, and meat rolled in dried sheets of seaweed – and a drink cup near the crash site.
“I feel heartbroken when I think about the struggles you faced alone (in your last moments),” it read.
“You were truly amazing and did so well, so I hope you can now find happiness in a warm place. Thank you, and I’m sorry.”
Relatives of the victims were allowed to visit the site on Wednesday for the first time since the crash, and they laid out tteokguk – rice cake soup traditionally enjoyed in South Korea on New Year’s Day – as they said their goodbyes, many in tears.
Hundreds of people also queued up to pay their respects at a memorial altar set up to honour the victims.
So many people came to the memorial that the queue stretched for hundreds of metres and the local cell phone network was overloaded, local media reported.
