A firetruck ran over one of the two teenage Chinese girls killed in the Asiana jet crash in San Francisco, police confirmed Friday.
The two Chinese teenagers died Saturday when Flight 214 crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport. Some 182 others were injured when the Boeing 777 crashed, including three who remain in critical condition.
Authorities are still conducting an autopsy to determine cause of death, but one of the girls “had been run over at least one time by a fire truck,” San Francisco police spokesman Albie Esparza told AFP.
Firefighters, who raced to the scene shortly after the crash to help douse the flames blazing from the aircraft, had told police of the “possibility” one of their trucks ran over a victim.
An investigation was immediately launched by the police department, concluding the accident occurred “because the fire trucks were battling the fire with this anti-retardant foam.”
“Apparently, they covered the immediate ground area with this white foam, and it’s believed that the victim was on the ground, covered, and not seen by anybody,” Esparza explained.
“So when the fire truck moved to reposition itself, that is when the body of the victim was discovered lying in the track of the fire truck.”
But “right now, we are waiting for the San Mateo County Coroner Office to determine the cause of death,” to find out whether or not the teenager was already dead when the firetruck ran over her.
AFP was not immediately able to reach anyone in the coroner’s office to confirm when the final autopsy results will be available.
According to preliminary findings from the US transport safety agency’s probe, the plane crashed because it was flying too low and too slowly as it approached the runway.
The tail of the aircraft broke off as the plane clipped a seawall short of the runway, skidded out of control and caught fire.
It has also emerged that the otherwise experienced pilot of the plane, 46-year-old Lee Kang-Kuk, was undergoing his first major training on the Boeing 777, and it was his co-pilot’s first time working as instructor.
The National Transportation Safety Board has said analysis of cockpit voice recorders showed the pilots made no mention of the too-slow speed during the plane’s doomed approach until it was 100 feet from the ground.
Asiana’s flight 214, from Shanghai, with a stop in Seoul, had 307 people on board, including 16 crew members. Two people were killed, 182 injured, while 123 escaped unharmed.
Asiana crash victim was run over by firetruck: police
