Saturday, May 16, 2015

DRIVER CITED AFTER BUS CARRYING CAROLINA MUDCATS FLIPS; 8 INJURED






MAY 12, 2015

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WECT)

A bus carrying the Carolina Mudcats baseball team flipped onto its side in Columbus County Tuesday morning while heading to Myrtle Beach for a game Tuesday night.

According to Kay Worley, the Columbus County Emergency Services Director, the bus, from Abbott Bus Lines, Inc. out of Roanoke, Virginia, crashed around 3:45 a.m. on Clarendon Chadbourn Road.

Worley says 33 members of the team were on board the bus. Eight of those, including seven players and one trainer, were taken to the hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. All eight have since been released.

Those not injured in the accident were taken to the Columbus County Emergency Operations Center. The bus was pulled upright shortly after 6 a.m.
Greg Young, the director of broadcasting and media relations for the Mudcats, was on the bus and was tweeting throughout the morning. 

"Can't put into words right how grateful I am to have not been injured tonight. Please keep the injured players in your thoughts & prayers," Young tweeted, followed by posting a photo of the overturned bus.

Young said he had dozed off when he heard the driver become frantic and yelling before he lost control. The bus flipped over and skidded down the road while everyone fell to one side of the bus. According to State Highway Patrol, the driver, Janice Coffman from Virginia, was cited for exceeding safe speeds.

"Some of the players held on to their seatmates so they wouldn't be harmed any further," Young explained. "Everyone kind of huddle up and when the bus stopped everybody got up as fast as they could. Everyone checked on each other to see if there were any major injuries."

— Greg Young (@GregYoungJr) May 12, 2015

Young said it was "weird" to figure out which way the bus had flipped.
"We ended up going to the top [of the bus], so we went through the hatch," Young said explaining everyone kept checking to make sure the players and staff were all okay before getting off the bus.

Young didn't want to comment on the number of people taken to the hospital or speculate on the types of injuries. 

"There are a lot of parents who are not near their sons right now, and very concerned," Young said. 

Young tweeted around 11 a.m. Tuesday the team was back together and heading to Myrtle Beach as planned, but according to a statement released by the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Wednesday morning, the three-game series between the two teams has been canceled.

The Mudcats, instead, have returned to Zebulon where players and staff will continue to be medically evaluated. A decision to reschedule the series will be made at a later time.

Anyone with tickets or vouchers for any of the three games can exchange them for a ticket of equal or lesser value to any 2015 Pelicans regular season game and beyond, subject to availability.