Firefighter not facing charges in accidental death of Asiana flight 217 survivor

The firefighter who responded to the scene of an Asiana plane crash this summer and accidentally ran over one of the survivors will not face charges.

16-year-old student Ye Mengyuan was thrown from Asiana flight 217 when it hit a sea wall during its descent in July because the plane was trying to land too early and too slowly. She was lying on the tarmac, covered in firefighting foam, when an airport rescue firefighting truck ran her over.

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Friday that the investigation of the incident has been closed and there will be no criminal charges filed against the firefighter who ran the teen over, reports the Washington Post.

Wagstaffe described the situation on the day of the crash as “chaotic”, which he said meant that what the firefighter did was not something that she could be criminally charged for.

The Mengyuan family attorney, Anthony Tarricone, knew that there would be no criminal charges filed against the firefighter, reports the BBC.

"It's really not the subject of criminal prosecution," Tarricone said in a statement. "It's properly the subject of civil action, which we intend to prosecute."

He did add that Mengyuan’s death was “completely avoidable”, according to the LA Times. He said that the teen’s family deserves justice for her death and that they will be pursuing “civil claims against the responsible parties."

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