Asiana passenger survived crash, killed by vehicle

Gary Strauss | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Coroner: Teen in Asiana crash killed by vehicle A coroner says a teenager in the Asiana Airlines crash was killed when she was struck by a vehicle at the scene. Police believe that 16-year-old Ye Meng Yuan was on the ground nearby and had been accidentally covered in fire-retardant foam. (July 19

16-year-old teen hit at least once by airport-based rescue vehicle

A Chinese student on board ill-fated Asiana Flight 214 survived the crash-landing of the Boeing 777, only to be killed on the runway by an emergency vehicle approaching the burning plane, the San Mateo County Coroner said Friday.

Ye Meng Yuan, 16, died from "multiple blunt injuries that are consistent with being run over by a motor vehicle" at San Francisco International Airport, said coroner Robert Foucrault.

"Internal bleeding ruled out any chance she was dead when she was struck,'' Foucrault said. "She was alive at the time when she received the injuries."

It was unclear whether Yuan, part of a group scheduled to attend a three-week California summer camp, was struck by more than one vehicle, Foucrault said.

Yuan and 16-year-old classmate Wang Linjia were pronounced dead at the scene of the July 6 crash. A third victim, 15-year-old Liu Yipeng, died from injuries July 12. The three attended Jiangshan Middle School in Zhejiang, an affluent coastal province in eastern China.

More than 180 of the 307 passengers and crew were injured when the aircraft hit a seawall short of the runway, shearing off the tail section and setting the plane ablaze.

Police and fire officials confirmed last week that Yuan was hit by a vehicle, but had not determined whether she was already dead at the time. Yuan was covered with flame-retardant foam spread by firefighting vehicles when she was struck. She was found in the wheeled tracks the vehicle made traversing the foam, according to the San Francisco Police Department, which investigated the case.

San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White said a specialized emergency vehicle may have run over the prone body. It's possible she was hit a second time, Hayes-White said.

"Obviously, this is devastating news for us, a tragic accident,'' she said. "We are heartbroken. We're in the business of saving lives, and many lives were saved that day."

The post-crash tarmac was a hectic scene, filled with debris from an aircraft engulfed in flames, fleeing passengers and first responders extinguishing fires and rescuing those still aboard.

"It' was a difficult,challenging scene" to navigate, said Hayes-White, who said no disciplinary action was planned.

The cause of the crash is still under National Transportation Safety Board investigation.

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