SAN FRANCISCO (Yonhap News) -- A teenage girl died Friday after succumbing to injuries sustained last week during the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport, authorities said.
San Francisco General Hospital did not reveal the name of the girl but confirmed she had been in critical condition. Her death was confirmed by the Chinese consulate in the city, which also said that she was a Chinese citizen. The latest death brings the total number of fatalities to three with all victims being Chinese passport holders. The other two who died were also teenage girls.
Sources, who declined to be identified, said the latest victim was a 16-year-old student who was on the plane so she could attend a summer camp in the United States.
Related to the earlier deaths, U.S. law enforcement authorities here confirmed at least one of the deceased was hit by a fire truck racing to the scene of the crash, although it has yet to be confirmed the exact cause of her death.
The fatal accident involving the Boeing 777-200ER passenger jet that took place last Saturday, caused around 180 people to receive medical attention for their injuries. The flight originated in Shanghai with a stopover in Seoul before it arrived in San Francisco.
Of those injured, six still remain in hospital with at least one reportedly in critical condition.
Airport authorities said earlier in the day that the wreckage of the ill-fated plane has been moved from the crash site and repairs to the runway and the seawall, which were damaged by the wide-body twin-engine plane that carried 307 people, are currently underway. Repair crews said the runway should be in operation by Sunday.
Related to the tragedy a local TV station drew flak for making a vulgar caricature of the names of the four Asiana pilots.
An anchor at KTVU, an affiliate of Fox TV, referred to the four pilots as Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk and Bang Ding Ow and even claimed the names were confirmed by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
After realizing their mistake, which can be viewed as racist, the station issued a full retraction and apologized for the mishap.
The NTSB also said the "names" used by the TV broadcaster were "made up" by a summer intern who had no right to give out the names. It stressed the agency did not officially release the names of the Asiana flight crew, but emphasized every effort will be made to prevent such an incident from happening again.
South Korea's Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, meanwhile, said that it will convene a meeting of senior airliner executives on Monday to discuss ways to look into operational safety of planes ahead of the peak summer travel season.
It said representatives from Korean Air Lines Co., the country's largest flag carrier, Asiana, Jeju Air Co., Air Busan Co., Air Co., Ltd., Eastar Jet Co. and T'way Airlines are to attend.
