Exchange Student, 12, Hit by Car, Killed : Accident: Chinese boy was among 75 youths taking part in program between his country and the L.A. school district.

A 12-year-old Chinese student, one of 75 taking part in the first large-scale student exchange program between China and the Los Angeles school district, died after he was struck by a car, authorities said Tuesday.

Bin-Feng Zheng apparently ran into the path of a car Monday evening as he crossed Topanga Canyon Boulevard near Burbank Boulevard in Woodland Hills, authorities said. The youth, who suffered massive head injuries, died at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Woodland Hills about 8:45 p.m. Monday, said hospital spokeswoman Linda Quon.

Bin-Feng, who had adopted the American name “Roy” and was known for his curiosity, was taking part in an exchange student program at Hale Middle School in Woodland Hills.

School officials said that Bin-Feng apparently slipped out of the Woodland Hills apartment where he and the other students had been staying since they arrived in September from Guangzhou, a large city near Hong Kong.

“There might have been more kids about (at the accident scene), but it has not been confirmed,” Hale Principal Jeanie Leighton said. “I think the only persons who know are our students.”

Leighton said the exchange students usually are “watched very closely” by Chinese and Chinese American chaperons, each assigned to care for six students. The unidentified caretaker in charge of Bin-Feng apparently did not realize the boy was missing until after he had been killed, Leighton said.

The tragedy began to unfold sometime after 6:30 p.m. Monday when the boy apparently left the Warner Center Apartments, possibly during the students’ recreation time, Leighton said. Where he was headed remains unclear, but about a half an hour later a car driven by Martin Rosenburg, 71, apparently struck the youth on Topanga Canyon Boulevard as he darted across the busy street, said Los Angeles Police Officer John Baby.

Bin-Feng was known as a student who “tried very hard and was very curious,” Leighton said. The boy’s parents were notified late last night of their son’s death.

On Tuesday, school officials quickly assembled a Chinese-speaking crisis team, consisting of a psychologist and a minister and his wife, to counsel the other Chinese students and review safety procedures, including how to properly cross a busy American street.

In addition to a two-hour group counseling session, the exchange students received shorter counseling sessions later in the day, and more counseling will be offered as needed, Leighton said.

Leighton said she hopes the tragedy will not affect the exchange program. “It’s very sad,” she said. “It seemed like everything had been very positive. Our kids had been very receptive and warm to these kids and anxious to learn about them and their culture.”

The Chinese youngsters, ages 11 to 14, are students of the Heroes School, the first private school in China. They came to Hale to attend a special program built around English as a Second Language courses taught by instructors who can speak both Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese.

The students are expected to be replaced by a second group of youngsters from the Heroes School next September.

The Los Angeles school district is scheduled to start sending American students to China in the 1995-96 school year, where the $30,000-a-year tuition at the Heroes School, a boarding institution, will be waived.