Asiana crash victim may have been killed by emergency vehicle

One of the two Chinese teenagers killed Saturday in the Asiana Airlines runway crash at San Francisco International Airport may have been run over by an emergency vehicle, officials said.

Two 16-year-old girls from China were found dead on the tarmac after the crash. One was seemingly ejected from the plane when it struck a sea wall near the runway and broke apart. The other was found near the wreckage of the plane, San Mateo County Coroner Robert J. Foucrault said.

The second victim had “injuries that were consistent with having been run over by a vehicle,” a San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday.

Asiana Airlines identified the victims as Wang Linjia and Ye Mengyuan. The two were part of a student group from Jiangshan Middle School in China’s eastern Zhejiang province, according to Chinese media reports.

Asiana Flight 214 originated in Shanghai and stopped in Seoul before flying to San Francisco International Airport, where it crash-landed, killing the students and injuring more than 180.

Multiple agencies are investigating the accident scene, spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said, including the National Transportation Safety Board. The cause of death for both girls will be determined by the coroner’s office.

Autopsy results are expected soon.

Foucrault said fire officials had mentioned the possibility of the accident to his investigators, but that nothing is known yet.

“The reason we do autopsies is to determine a cause of death,” Foucrault said. “What we are trying to do is determine whether this young lady died of an airline crash or of a secondary incident. If it does involve a secondary incident the people who may be involved should be aware of it, as well as the family.”

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