Asiana Victim Was Left to Fend for Herself: Attorney

Lawyer claims Ye Meng Yuan was 'not properly cared for'
By Ruth Brown,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 28, 2013 4:30 PM CDT
Firefighters Knew Asiana Victim Was There When Truck Hit Her: Attorney
Ye Meng Yuan.   (AP Photo/CHINATOPIX, File)

The fallout from the Asiana plane crash continues, as authorities and lawyers investigate who—if anyone—is to blame for the death of Ye Meng Yuan, the 16-year-old who was likely killed after being run over by a fire truck, rather than the crash itself. The law firm representing the families of the victims now claims "multiple" firefighters knew Ye had been taken from the wreckage and was near the left wing of the plane when foam was sprayed around the area. "We know that multiple firefighters knew she was there, and she was left there to fend for herself before the foam was put down," says an attorney, per the San Jose Mercury News. Ye was "not properly protected, tended to, or properly cared for," he claims.

An investigation by ABC7 also claims firefighters moved Ye to the wing—a dangerous location, according to sources—and that there were multiple issues with the truck that allegedly hit her, too. Sources say the driver, a veteran firefighter, was out of the station when her colleagues rushed off to the crash. The station was empty when she returned, so she took a truck on her own—which is permitted in an emergency, but not ideal. Further, the truck she was driving wasn't equipped with a heat-detecting camera, which would have shown the body under the foam. The San Francisco Fire Department slammed the investigation as "distasteful" and "incomplete," but did not dispute the details, the Mercury News reports. "The department will await the outcome of the investigations prior to commenting any further about the accident," it said in a statement. (More Asiana Airlines Flight 214 stories.)

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