Fire truck killed Asiana crash survivor
Source: Agencies |
July 21, 2013, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A CHINESE teenager survived the Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco only to be killed by a fire vehicle rushing to fight a blaze on the plane, authorities have said.
As the wreckage of Asiana Flight 214 burned, Ye Mengyuan was lying on the ground just nine meters away, buried by the firefighting foam rescue workers were spraying to douse the flames.
No one knows exactly how the 16-year-old student got there, but officials say that she survived the crash.
But following the July 6 crash a fire truck ran over Ye, killing her, details released on Friday by the coroner's office confirmed.
"There's not a lot of words to describe how badly we feel," said San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.
Ye's family were upset after learning the details of their daughter's death and want her body returned to China, County Coroner Robert Foucrault said. "It was a difficult conversation," he added.
Foucrault declined to go into detail on how he determined the teenager was alive before she was struck, but said there was internal hemorrhaging that indicated her heart was still beating at the time.
Hayes-White said she was trying to arrange a meeting with the family and that procedures would be reviewed.
"There's always room to evaluate and improve our response," she said.
The Chinese Consulate called on the authorities to determine responsibility.
In all, 304 of the 307 people aboard the Boeing 777 survived the crash at San Francisco International Airport.
Ye and 16-year-old Wang Linjia died at the scene, while 15-year-old Liu Yipeng, died in hospital on July 12. They all came from Jiangshan in Zhejiang Province.
Authorities say the aircraft came in too low and too slow, clipping a seawall.
As the wreckage of Asiana Flight 214 burned, Ye Mengyuan was lying on the ground just nine meters away, buried by the firefighting foam rescue workers were spraying to douse the flames.
No one knows exactly how the 16-year-old student got there, but officials say that she survived the crash.
But following the July 6 crash a fire truck ran over Ye, killing her, details released on Friday by the coroner's office confirmed.
"There's not a lot of words to describe how badly we feel," said San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.
Ye's family were upset after learning the details of their daughter's death and want her body returned to China, County Coroner Robert Foucrault said. "It was a difficult conversation," he added.
Foucrault declined to go into detail on how he determined the teenager was alive before she was struck, but said there was internal hemorrhaging that indicated her heart was still beating at the time.
Hayes-White said she was trying to arrange a meeting with the family and that procedures would be reviewed.
"There's always room to evaluate and improve our response," she said.
The Chinese Consulate called on the authorities to determine responsibility.
In all, 304 of the 307 people aboard the Boeing 777 survived the crash at San Francisco International Airport.
Ye and 16-year-old Wang Linjia died at the scene, while 15-year-old Liu Yipeng, died in hospital on July 12. They all came from Jiangshan in Zhejiang Province.
Authorities say the aircraft came in too low and too slow, clipping a seawall.
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