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2 Teen Victims In SFO Crash Were Headed To L.A. Church Camp
In this handout photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board, the wreckage of Asiana Airlines flight 214 lies near the runway following yesterday's crash, on July 7, 2013 in San Francisco, California. The Boeing 777 passenger aircraft from Asiana Airlines coming from Seoul, South Korea crashed landed on the runway at San Francisco International Airport. Two people died and dozens were injured in the crash. (Photo by NTSB via Getty Images)
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The two 16-year-old girls who were killed in the Asiana Airlines crash on Saturday in San Francisco were headed for a summer church camp in Los Angeles.
Wang Linjia and Ye Mengyuan were among the 35 students bound for West Valley Christian Church and School in West Hills for three weeks of sightseeing and English immersion, the LA Times reports. They had decided to stop in the Bay Area first, which placed them on Flight 214 to San Francisco.
The church's summer camp schedule included touring local universities in the afternoons. They were going to live with host families in the San Fernando Valley and go sightseeing on weekends.
Linjia and Mengyuan, who were from the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, were the only fatalities of the flight; 182 were injured and at least two paralyzed.
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One of the girls was found on the runway, and officials speculate that she was ejected when the Boeing 777 crash-landed. The other, whose body was found closer to the wreckage, may have been run over by an emergency vehicle responding to the crash. Officials have not specified which girl was which.
Asiana Airlines did not identify the two girls until early Sunday morning, more than 14 hours after the crash.
"We started to pray as a church and as a school," West Valley Christian School administrator Derek Swales told ABC when he first heard of the disaster.
The school posted this message on its website:
To remember the two precious girls who died from our group of 35. We invite you to a prayer vigil Thursday 7 p.m. at West Valley Christian Church and School. Host families, former host families, and families from the community are welcome.
Swales told ABC they're also providing support for those who survived the crash: "These kids have lost luggage, and so we're trying to put together a program where we can find gift cards, we can find sympathy cards from local churches, from families that would like to reach out to these kids."
Related:
Asiana Crash Victim May Have Been Run Over By Fire Truck
SFO Plane Crash Victims Identified As Teen Girls
Korean Passenger Flight Crashes At SFO, Two Dead [Updates]
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