韓亞空難重傷中國女學生身亡 遇難人數升至3人

A young girl who was critically injured in the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 died Friday morning from her injuries, bringing the death toll to three, San Francisco General Hospital announced.

The child, whose identity and injury information was withheld by hospital officials at her parents' request, had been in intensive care ever since she was taken to the hospital following the July 6 crash landing of a 777 jetliner at San Francisco International Airport.

"I am very sad that one of the victims of the plane crash expired this morning," Dr. Margaret Knudson, chief of surgery, said in a Friday afternoon news conference. "Her parents have asked that we reveal no further information at this time. We will respect their wishes while they grieve."

While officials declined to specify the victim's injuries, Dr. Geoffrey Manley, the hospital's chief of neurosurgery, briefly spoke to reporters during the announcement.

"She received oustanding care," Manley said. "We did everything we could to take care of this young lady."

When the child's death was announced Friday afternoon, the day's news involving the crash had already taken a dour turn after starting with a glimmer of optimism following declarations that the closed SFO runway was cleared of the plane wreckage and set to re-open late Sunday.

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr confirmed weeklong fears that a fire truck ran over one of the two 16-year-old girls who died immediately after the crash, though whether that killed her remains to be seen.

Police said the teenage victim, identified by the San Mateo County Coroner's Office as Ye Mengyuan of China, was covered in fire-retardant foam when a fire truck rolled over her at a low speed.

She was discovered in the tracks that the truck left in the foam as emergency workers responded the crash that also injured dozens of others after the jetliner "short-landed" and hit its tail on the sea wall, shearing it from the rest of the plane and sending it spinning into the runway.

Police stressed that the coroner has not officially determined the cause of death for the teenager who was hit by the fire truck and declined to comment further. Coroner Robert Foucrault said earlier this week that it could be two to three weeks before that information is released.

The San Francisco Fire Department, which oversees firefighting and rescue operations for the airport, said it would hold off on a response to the police finding until it's clear how the victim died.

"Out of respect for the family and everyone involved, the Fire Department is awaiting the results of the coroner's report so we can provide a complete and factual statement," Lt. Mindy Talmadge, SFFD spokeswoman, said in an email.

Suspicions arose soon after the crash that one of the girls might have been struck by a rescue vehicle, especially after aerial photographs of the wreckage showed a body in the trail of one of the trucks.

During a news conference Monday, Dale Carnes, assistant deputy fire chief at SFO, said the department was quickly made aware of the possibility and that officials were cooperating with a multi-agency investigation that included the NTSB and SFPD, which dispatched its hit-and-run investigation unit to the case.

During that briefing, Carnes said the following:

"At this time because we have not clearly defined and established those facts, we cannot answer your questions, anything we might offer at this point would be simply conjecture, and would also complicate the investigation and we're just not willing to do that. Once the investigation's complete, and we have met with all of the stakeholders involved in the investigation, and establish those facts, we will then be forwarding that information."

Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board turned over custody of Runway 28L Wednesday night so that airport crews could start clearing debris and begin repairs to the surface and seawall where the plane's tail sheared off, and crews were quick to begin work.

Cleanup intensified overnight Thursday night as crews removed the fuselage, or main body of the plane. There was a brief but scary moment with smoke appearing as crews removed the charred and fragmented fuselage, with the aim of having the scarred runway ready for landings by the end of the weekend.

The smoke was reported at 3:30 a.m. Friday as the fuselage was being cut into two sections, San Francisco International Airport spokesman Doug Yakel said.

"They were removing the rear section from the forward section that had the wings still attached," Yakel said. "We don't know the ultimate cause but we suspect it was the cutting into metal, which caused a lot of friction. No one ever saw a fire."

A firefighting crew was on hand during the removal and quickly tended to the smoke, Yakel said.

Later in the morning, the fuselage was cleared from the field where it had been sitting since the Saturday morning crash.

Friday morning, the front section of the plane was taken to a remote lot north of the airport. At the lot, crews could be seen using a combination of cranes, flatbed trucks and forklifts to gather the aircraft pieces. Engines and fragments of landing gear and the tail rested in a pile.

"We got it entirely relocated from the site," Yakel said. "It's a huge milestone for us."

Crews will now turn to the task of cleaning spilled jet fuel and repairing the surface of the runway as well as safety lights that were damaged.

"Our goal is to reopen the runway for commercial use by the end of Sunday," Yakel said.

Before that can happen, the Federal Aviation Administration must certify the runway before clearing it for landings. Yakel said the airport has been in close contact with the agency to facilitate an expeditious return to normal operations.

"They know how important it is for us to get that open as soon as possible," Yakel said.

He added that travelers have faced delays at a minimum of 45 minutes -- though many have reported some far longer -- and that between 75 and 100 flight cancellations a day have been made since the crash.

"Having one of four runways closed its like having a lane closed on a freeway, it's going to back up traffic," Yakel said. "Even when we're starting each morning with low clouds, when that burns off, we continue to have delays because of the runway."

Should the first plane touch down late Sunday on Runway 28L as hoped, Yakel said it will be a testament to nonstop work since the tragedy.

"It'll really be an achievement for entire team," he said. "So many groups were working around the clock to get this back in service.

During its final local press briefing Thursday, the NTSB released photos of a scattered debris field of shards of airplane remnants that has since been cleaned up.

Officials said that federal authorities will transport, piece by piece, the wreckage to a secure housing area that is yet to be determined. Parts of investigatory "interest" have either already been shipped or are on their way to the agency's headquarters in Washington.

Fewer than a dozen of the victims injured in the crash still remain in the hospital, including three flight attendants who like the deceased girls were ejected from the plane on impact.

Officials at San Francisco General said they're still treating six patients: five adults and one child. Five of the patients are female, including the child. Two of the adults are in critical condition with injuries that include spinal cord and abdominal injuries, internal bleeding, road rash and fractures.

Those critical injuries are in line with the those that would have been suffered by flight attendants who survived after being ejected from the plane during the crash. But because of privacy rules it could not be confirmed who suffered which injuries.

Stanford Hospital released one patient Thursday evening, with one remaining in serious condition. One patient remains at St. Mary's Medical Center in good condition and another at St. Francis Hospital, who is stable.

On Thursday night in Los Angeles, West Valley Christian School held a vigil to honor the victims of the crash.

Mengyuan and Wang Linjia were among about 35 students who were scheduled to attend a three-week academic summer camp based at the West Hills school. The camp, which was scheduled to start last Monday, was canceled in light of the crash.

The ceremony included speeches and songs, while wreaths were laid out and students wrote condolences on large banners.

"Our general purpose is to show love and compassion for the Chinese group that came, even though they never came to us and the two that died, to show the human side of Americans as we relate to the Chinese people -- that we truly have a love and compassion for those families, the children that were in the plane crash and those that died," said West Vally Christian church's the Rev. Glenn Kirby by telephone from a national church conference in Kentucky.據美國媒體報道，美國舊金山總醫院7月12日證實，在該院救治的一名女孩當天上午不治身亡。至此，6日發生的韓亞航空客機墜毀事故已造成3名中國人喪生。

***第3名中國女中學生遇難

當地時間12日下午3時，舊金山總醫院在急診室大樓外舉行記者招待會。“我非常遺憾地宣佈，今天上午韓亞航空客機墜毀事故的一名傷員過世了，”該院外科主任瑪格麗特•克努森醫生表示：“她的父母要求我們目前不要公佈更多的信息，在他們悲傷之際我們將尊重他們的願望。”

舊金山醫院神經外科主任傑弗裏•曼利醫生補充道：“她入院期間得到了很好的救治，醫院方面盡了一切努力來照顧這名年輕的女孩”。

根據中國駐舊金山總領事館此前通報，這名女中學生頭部和腹部受傷，傷勢嚴重，先後接受兩次外科手術，一直在重症監護病房接受救治。

***美警方確認遇難者遭消防車碾壓

美國官員7日表示，韓亞航空客機墜毀事故的一名遇難者可能被消防車碾壓過。12日，舊金山警察局局長格雷格•蘇爾證實上述猜測屬實。

舊金山聖馬特奧驗屍官羅伯特•J•福克勞爾特稱，這名遭消防車碾壓的遇難者爲中國女孩葉夢圓。警方稱，葉夢圓被一輛低速行駛的消防車碾過時，她身上覆蓋着白色阻燃劑泡沫。

舊金山警方強調，目前驗屍官還未正式確定葉夢圓的死因。據悉，驗屍結果最早要在下週才能正式公佈。

負責此次墜機事故現場救火工作的舊金山消防署表示，因爲還不知道葉夢圓的確切死因，所以將暫緩做出迴應。“出於對遇難者家屬以及所有涉事人員的尊重，舊金山消防部門將等到驗屍結果公佈後，纔出具一份完整且符合事實的聲明，”舊金山消防部門發言人明迪•塔爾梅奇說。

***失事客機無機械故障

美國國家運輸安全委員會主席德博拉•赫斯曼11日表示，初步調查發現，沒有證據證明韓亞航空的失事客機有機械故障。

“根據現在掌握的飛機飛行記錄器數據，自動駕駛、飛行指令和自動油門系統方面沒有異常。”赫斯曼說，4名飛行員曾告訴調查人員，儘管降落過程中手動操作，但他們“以爲”飛機航速由自動油門系統設定。而調查顯示，自動油門系統的確處於開啓狀態，但不確定飛機失事前它是否正確運行。

美國國家運輸安全委員會先前透露，客機當時飛行高度過低、速度過慢，墜毀前3秒航速爲103節，遠低於137節的建議速度。

據悉，美國國家運輸安全委員會將把全部飛機殘骸運回一個未知的安全儲存地點進行全面徹底的調查，最終評估結果要一年多後才能發佈。

***客機殘骸清理完畢

調查人員11日結束現場勘查後，舊金山國際機場方面當晚開始清理位於機場28L跑道上的客機殘骸，並啓動跑道和防波堤的修復工作。

當工作人員開始切割客機機身、以便從跑道上移走客機主體時，發生了一個小事故。12日凌晨3點半左右，工作人員突然發現客機殘骸冒煙了。

“當時，客機機身正被切割成前後兩個部分，工作人員試圖把後半段機身與有機翼的前半段機身分開，”舊金山國際機場發言人道格•亞克爾說，“我們不知道冒煙的原因是什麼，我們懷疑可能是切割金屬時摩擦力太大了。不過，當時沒人看見明火。”隨後，在一旁待命的消防人員迅速反應、撲滅了煙霧。

亞克爾說，由於舊金山國際機場只有4條跑道，所以關閉一條跑道影響巨大。“4條跑道中有1條被關閉，就像高速公路上有一條車道被封鎖一樣，勢必會對交通產生負面影響。現在，乘客需面臨至少45分鐘的航班延誤，事故發生後機場每天要取消少則75、多達100個航班。”

當地時間12日傍晚5點五分，28L跑道重新開放。一架美國西南航空客機首先着陸。

***3名空乘仍在醫院

截至12日，還有不到12名傷員仍在醫院接受治療，其中包括3名空乘人員。失事客機撞上機場防波堤時，這三名空乘均從機艙甩了出來。

舊金山總醫院表示，他們還在治療6名傷員，其中5位成人一名兒童。2人病情危急，脊柱和腹部受傷。

其餘傷者在斯坦福大學醫院等醫院救治。

***洛杉磯學校爲遇難者守夜

在韓亞航空客機墜毀事故中遇難和受傷的浙江江山中學的學生們原本計劃在洛杉磯西谷基督教會學校參加一個爲期三週的夏令營。當地時間11日晚，該校師生爲空難受害者守夜。

在守夜儀式上，西谷基督教會學校的學生們發表演講、演唱歌曲，同時擺上花圈，並在橫幅上寫上悼唁詞。

“我們想要爲遭遇不幸的中國人送去愛和關心，即使他們最終沒能來到這裏。對於那些遭遇客機失事的中國孩子，對於他們的家人，我們真的感到同情和遺憾。”西谷基督教會學校格倫•卡比牧師表示，他們也希望藉此機會，對外展示美國人人性化的一面。