Amid the marvel of nearly all aboard Asiana Flight 214 surviving a crash landing, authorities here are investigating a tragedy that may have unfolded during the frantic rescue -- whether a teenage Chinese girl made it out of the plane only to be run over by a rescue vehicle.
San Francisco police said yesterday the department's hit-and-run unit is investigating the death of a 16-year-old eastern Chinese girl who might have been killed accidentally on the runway on Saturday by a fire truck racing to the scene at San Francisco International Airport.
"An investigation is underway, and that's all I can say," police spokesman Albie Esparza said.
The department noted its hit-and-run unit and major accidents investigations team both would typically be involved in any such investigations.
The girl, identified yesterday as Ye Mengyuan, and a classmate, 16-year-old Wang Linjia, comprised the crash's two fatalities. Federal and local officials on Monday addressed the possibility that she might have been killed as the first firefighters responded to the wrecked, smoking airliner.
"One of our fire apparatus may have come into contact with one of our two victims," Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said during a news conference called to highlight the heroic efforts of first responders. "I assure you, we are looking closely at this."
Chinese state media have said the two girls were students at Jiangshan Middle School in Zhejiang, an affluent coastal province in eastern China.
They were part of a group of 29 students and five teachers from the school who were heading to a summer camp in Southern California, according to education authorities in China.
Findings of what caused the 16-year-old's death -- the plane crash, the fire truck, or both -- might not come for several weeks.
A firefighter first reported to a superior on Saturday that a passenger who was on the ground roughly 9 metres from the wreckage and near the escape slide may have been run over as fire crews were shifting from dousing the flames to taking victims to hospitals, officials said.
Police, FBI agents, the coroner and other officials were notified after the firefighter at the scene reported his concerns, officials said. The drivers of the first five trucks to respond to the emergency were given drug and alcohol tests, which they passed.
