San Francisco plane crash: 3rd victim identified

SAN FRANCISCO

Chinese state media identified the passenger as 17-year-old Liu Yipeng. According to China News, Yipeng went to school with the other two victims who were killed in the crash.

Very little information was released about the third victim but a spokeswoman for the San Francisco General Hospital said Yipeng died Friday morning.

"She died of her injuries," said Kagan. "It is a pediatric patient who's been in intensive care unit since the time of her crash.

The airliner collided with a rocky seawall just short of the runway, killing Yipeng and two other 16-year-old girls, Ye Meng Yuan and Wang Linjia. All three girls killed were from China. Dozens of other passengers were hurt. Officials said 182 people were transported to the hospital following the crash, most of them having suffered only minor injuries.

On Friday, authorities confirmed Yuan had been hit by a fire truck racing to the scene. Her cause of death has not been determined.

"The fire truck did go over the victim at least one time. Now the other question is, 'What was the cause of death?" police spokesman Albie Esparza said. "That's what we are trying to determine right now."

Police spokesman Officer Gordon Shy said the runway was covered with foam rescuers had sprayed on the burning wreckage.

"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."

Officials said the pilots, a trainee and his instructor, may have failed to realize until too late that the aircraft was dangerously low and flying too slow.

Runway 281 reopened on Friday. The wreckage of the plane has since been moved into a holding area and will soon be turned into scrap metal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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