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March 29, 2024

Video shows firefighters saw girl run over by truck after plane crash

Asiana Airlines Crash

Benjamin Levy / AP

This Saturday, July 6, 2013, file photo provided by passenger Benjamin Levy, shows fellow passengers from Asiana Airlines flight 214, many with their luggage, on the tarmac just moments after the plane crashed at the San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco.

Asiana Airplane Crash

This aerial photo shows the wreckage of the Asiana Flight 214 airplane after it crashed at the San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Saturday,  July 6, 2013. Launch slideshow »

SAN FRANCISCO — Video from a firefighter's helmet camera following the crash landing of an Asiana Airlines flight in San Francisco shows rescuers were aware there was someone on the ground outside the plane, before she was fatally run over by a fire truck.

CBS affiliate KPIX-TV first aired parts of the footage showing the chaotic aftermath of the July 6 crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday night. The station said it obtained it from a person close to the family of the girl who was killed, 16-year-old Ye Meng Yuan.

Fifteen minutes after the driver of a fire truck was alerted to where she was, the video shows that same truck running over her, according to the station, though footage of her being run over was not aired in KPIX-TV's broadcast. The helmet camera shows another truck driving over her minutes after that, according to KPIX-TV. The San Mateo County Coroner has confirmed that Yuan was killed by a fire truck.

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported on the video's content. It's still unknown how Yuan got out of the plane. Interviews for an ongoing National Traffic Safety Board investigation found Yuan was covered with foam and struck twice.

"At least five firefighters knew of her presence before she was covered in foam, nobody examined her, nobody touched her, nobody protected her, moved her or did anything to take her out of harm's way and then they abandoned her there," said Anthony Tarricone, an attorney for Yuan's family.

San Francisco fire spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said on Wednesday she could not comment on the video because of the pending litigation, though she confirmed there were a couple of videos and a few still photographs of the scene that were taken by firefighters and turned over to the department.

The videos and photographs were turned over to attorneys who have filed lawsuits representing victims of the crash, Talmadge said.

In all, 304 of the 307 people aboard the plane survived after the airliner slammed into a seawall at the end of a runway during final approach for landing.

The impact ripped off the back of the plane, tossed out three flight attendants and their seats, and scattered pieces of the jet across the runway as it spun and skidded to a stop.

Yuan was one of three Chinese teens who died; one died during the crash, and another died later in the hospital.

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