The Chinese Consulate in San Francisco is assisting Chinese passengers who were on Asiana Airlines Flight 214 when it crashed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday.
Consul General Yuan Nansheng said his offices have set up an emergency command group to handle the crash’s aftermath.
See all SF Appeal coverage of the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 here.
According to the airline, of the 291 passengers on board, 141 were Chinese citizens, 77 were Korean, 61 were Americans, one was a Japanese citizen and 11 were other nationalities.
The two female students on the flight who died have been identified as Ye Meng Yuan and Wang Lin Jia, both 16-year-old Chinese citizens.
According to the consulate, the students were part of a group from Zhejiang, a province on China’s eastern coast. Nansheng will visit the surviving students at the San Jose Marriott this afternoon.
The group consisted of 35 Chinese high school students and chaperones who were flying into SFO on their way to attend a three-week summer session at the West Valley Christian School and Church in West Hills in Los Angeles County.
The program, which was scheduled to begin Tuesday, has been canceled, according to school officials.
Consular officers have been sent out to confirm the numbers of Chinese nationals involved in the plane crash and to visit some of those injured, Nansheng said.
A 24-hour hotline has been established for family and friends of the Chinese passengers. The hotline can be reached at (415) 852-5924 or (415) 216-8525. Inquiries can be faxed to (415) 852-5920.
Visa officers are working extra hours to assist Chinese passengers whose passports were lost or damaged and need new travel documents, he said.
Sasha Lekach, Bay City News
