Chinese student on board crashed Asiana flight was killed by the firetruck that ran over her as it approached the burning plane
- - Ye Meng Yuan, 16, was killed by blunt force trauma as a result of a firetruck running
- over her at the scene of the crash, according to the results of an investigation
- - Yuan was sitting in the back of the plane and it is believed she may have been
- ejected onto the tarmac, where she was hit by the vehicle
- - She is one of three people, all Chinese students, who died as a result of the crash
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A Chinese student on board Asiana Flight 214 survived the crash-landing only to be killed accidentally on the runway by a fire truck racing to the wrecked, smoking plane, authorities revealed Friday.
Ye Meng Yuan, 16, died of blunt force trauma as a result of being hit by a vehicle, according to the San Mateo County Coroner's Office.
She was sitting in the back of the plane and it is believed she may have been ejected from her seat onto the tarmac when it crashed upon landing at San Francisco International airport. Her body was found near the left wing.
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Tragic: Ye Mengyuan, left, and Wang Linjia, right, are two of the three Chinese students killed the crash landing
Charred: Asiana Flight 214 burst into flames after crash landing July 6 at San Francisco International Airport
Ye Meng Yuan and her middle school classmate, 16-year-old Wang Linjia, died in the July 6 crash. The other victim killed, 15-year-old Liu Yipeng, died at a hospital July 12. Dozens of others were injured.
Tragic: Liu Yipeng, 15, died in the hospital days after the crash that killed two of her Chinese classmates
Police and fire officials confirmed last week that Ye Meng Yuan was hit by a fire truck racing to extinguish the blazing Boeing 777.
'The fire truck did go over the victim at least one time. Now the other question is, "What was the cause of death?"' San Francisco police spokesman Albie Esparza said.
All three girls killed were from China.
Ye Meng Yuan's close friend Wang Linjia was among a group of injured passengers who did not get immediate medical help after the crash. Rescuers did not spot her until 14 minutes after the crash. Wang Linjia's body was found along with three flight attendants who were flung onto the tarmac.
Moments after the crash, while rescuers tried to help passengers near the burning fuselage, Wang Linjia and some flight attendants lay in the rubble almost 2,000 feet away. A group of survivors called 911 and tried to help them.
Survivors said that after escaping the plane, they sat with at least four victims who appeared to be seriously hurt. They believe one of them was one of the girls who died.
Cindy Stone, who was in that group, was recorded by California Highway Patrol dispatchers calling in for help:
'There are no ambulances here. We've been on the ground 20 minutes. There are people lying on the tarmac with critical injuries, head injuries. We're almost losing a woman here. We're trying to keep her alive.'
San Francisco fire spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said Friday that when airport personnel reached the group near the seawall, Linjia was dead. She did not know when the girl had died.
Several flight attendants remain hospitalized.
Beyond recognition: The charred remains of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 after crash landing in San Francisco
Miracle: Despite the cabin bursting into flames, only three people have so far been identified as dead
Talmadge also confirmed that an Associated Press photograph of a body under a yellow tarp near the burned-out jet was Ye Meng Yuan.
The photo, taken from above, shows firefighters looking down at the tarp, and there are truck track marks leading up to it.
Police said the teenager was covered in foam that rescuers had sprayed on the burning wreckage. When the truck moved while battling the flames, rescuers discovered her body, Esparza said.
'The driver may not have seen the young lady in the blanket of foam,' said Ken Willette of the National Firefighter
Protection Agency, which sets national standards for training airfield firefighters. 'These could be factors contributing to this tragic event.'
Panic: As fire trucks rushed to the scene, one may have hit and killed Liu Yipeng, 15, in the chaotic aftermath
He said fire trucks that responded to the Asiana crash would have started shooting foam while approaching the fuselage from 80 or 100 feet away. The foam was sprayed from a cannon on the top of the truck across the ground to clear a safe path for evacuees. That was supposed to create a layer of foam on the ground that is several inches high before the truck gets to the plane.
The victims were close friends and top students, looking forward to spending a few weeks at a Christian summer camp in California, where they planned to practice English and boosting their chances of attending a U.S. college.
Their parents were flown to San Francisco after their deaths where the Chinese consulate was caring for them.
Remarkable: The tail of the Boeing 777 came completely off when the back section of the plane hit the runway's sea wall
The crash-landing occurred after the airliner collided with a rocky seawall just short the runway. Dozens of passengers were hurt. There were 182 survivors taken to hospitals, though most suffered only minor injuries.
So far, an investigation indicates the pilots, a trainee and his instructor, failed to realize until too late that the aircraft was dangerously low and flying too slow.
Nothing disclosed so far by the National Transportation Safety Board investigators indicates any problems with the Boeing 777's engines, computers or automated systems.
Also, San Francisco airport officials said that the runway where the jet crashed was reopened Friday evening, and all airlines would resume normal schedules immediately.
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