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.