Sixteen year-olds Wang Linjia and Ye Mengyaun were part of a group of 30 students and four teachers from the Zhejian region scheduled to attend a three-week summer camp at West Valley Christian School (WVCS) outside Los Angeles.

Derek Swales, administrator at the school, said that the group was to be the school’s first Chinese cohort and that church members due to host the children were shocked and “devastated”.

Both 16 year old victims were part of a group of 30 students and four teachers from the Zhejian region scheduled to attend a three-week summer camp

“They’re trying to learn the English language and understand America,” Swales told The New York Times. “They want to learn how quickly people speak here and listen to all the idioms, like what does it mean to say ‘off the wall’.”

According to the Chinese ministry of education, 70 students and teachers were among the 300 passengers flying from Shanghai to San Francisco via Seoul, with all headed to various summer programmes in the US.

Summer programmes are growing in popularity as parents attempt to give their children a leg-up in admissions to US high schools and universities. “Their number one reason is to be prepared for college,” Swales said. “Their parents are putting down a lot of money for them to see it and taste it.”

Linjia and Mengyaun are the only confirmed fatalities from the crash at San Francisco International Airport, but as many as 180 were injured, a small number critically.

The Chinese consulate is arranging for the victims’ parents to fly to San Francisco while the remaining group of students and teachers return to China. WVCS are collecting donations to send to the victims’ families and will hold a prayer vigil in both English and Mandarin this week.

Early indications suggest that upon landing the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 came in too short and hit the airport’s seawall, causing it to crash on the airport’s runway.