SEOUL, March 13 (Reuters) - South Korean police

investigating the 2024 Jeju Air crash said on Friday they had

raided the transport ministry as part of a widening probe into

whether regulatory lapses contributed to the disaster at Muan

International Airport.

The raid follows an ongoing reinvestigation of wreckage led

by the ministry and the Aviation and Railway Accident

Investigation Board, which has uncovered additional human

remains and personal belongings more than a year after the

crash, prompting renewed questions over the initial response.

Authorities have already searched regional aviation offices

and contractors involved in the airport's construction as part

of a broader effort to determine responsibility for the crash,

which killed 179 people.

A police official declined to comment further on Friday's

raid, but Yonhap News Agency cited an official as saying it was

aimed at securing additional material needed for the ongoing

probe into the cause of the disaster.