( CNN ) -- Asiana Airlines Flight 214 passenger Ye Mengyuan was alive when flung from the plane during this month 's crash landing but was killed moments later when run over by a rescue vehicle , a California coroner said Friday . Ye died as result of `` multiple blunt injuries that are consistent with being run over by a motor vehicle , '' said San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault . `` Those injuries she received , she was alive at the time . '' Officials previously had said that was what they feared had happened after the crash on July 6 at San Francisco 's airport . Ye , 16 , of China was one of three people who died in the crash and its aftermath . Read more : Asiana crash probe moved on from SFO . San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White , attending a news conference with Foucrault , called the incident `` a tragic accident '' and apologized to Ye 's family . One of the department 's aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles struck the girl while she was on the ground , possibly covered with firefighting foam being sprayed on and around the burning plane , the chief said . `` I particularly want to express our condolences and apologies to the family of Ye Mengyuan in light of the coroners ' findings ( in ) this tragic accident , '' the chief said . `` Obviously this is very difficult news for us . We 're heartbroken . We 're in the business of saving lives , '' she added . `` There 's not a lot of words to describe how badly we feel about it . '' The fire department is reaching out to the family through the Chinese consulate 's office . The investigation of what happened after the crash remains with the city 's police department . Police are reconstructing the crash scene to ascertain what happened during the rescue , the chief said . She called the crash `` a difficult , challenging scene . '' `` We believe it was one of the specialized rigs at the airport , the ARFF rigs , aircraft rescue firefighting vehicles , '' Hayes-White said . San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee said he was `` profoundly saddened by the involvement of a responding emergency vehicle in the death of 16-year-old Ye Mengyuan . '' `` On behalf of the people of San Francisco , I offer my deepest condolences and regret for her tragic death , and the deaths of her close friend , Wang Linjia , and 15-year-old Liu Yipeng , '' the mayor said in a statement . Ye and Wang , also 16 , were part of a group of 35 teachers and students from a middle school in Jiangshan traveling to California for a summer camp program . Wang was found dead at the scene along with Ye . Liu died days later in a San Francisco hospital . Foucrault , the coroner , met with the three families Thursday to discuss his findings , the fire chief said . The mayor said firefighters and first responders helped save the lives of 304 of the 307 passengers and crew aboard the flight . The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash landing , which also injured more than 180 people aboard the flight .
Ye Mengyuan , 16 , of China was struck and killed by a fire department vehicle . She was thrown from crash-landed Asiana Flight 214 at San Francisco airport . San Francisco 's fire chief calls it `` a tragic accident '' and apologizes to Ye 's family . The mayor says he 's `` profoundly saddened ''