Ten Wash. football players injured in bus crash
The State Patrol says a wayward ladder that had broken loose from a pickup truck moments before might have been the cause.
Trooper Cliff Pratt said the bus was southbound around 11 a.m. when the bus was cut-off near South 200th in Tukwila and rolled over onto the freeway shoulder.
"Somebody cut him off on the wet roadway, he slammed on his brakes to try to avoid it," Pratt said. "And that forced him into another car, which then sent the bus into a slide and rolled over."
A witness said a pickup truck lost a ladder off his roof rack, which then blew onto the freeway and cars were swerving to avoid the ladder.
"I was heading down southbound...heading up the Southcenter Hill when I noticed a truck had lost its ladder in the second lane from the right shoulder and was pulling over," said Mark Eshy. "And there were a couple cars scrambling to get (around) that ladder in the middle of the road."
Pratt said further investigation shows the ladder had a name stamped or written in two places, so they have a solid lead in finding out to whom the ladder belonged.
Bellevue High School Assistant Coach Pat Jones was in the front seat of the bus and said the truck that lost the ladder was just a few cars ahead of them.
"Traffic went from 70 to nothing all of a sudden," he said. "The bus driver veered hard to his right, hit a semi that was also slamming on its brakes. That veered us way more to the right where we hit the guardrail, slid, and hit the hill (raised embankment along the shoulder). We were still probably going about 50 when we hit that hill, and then we flipped all the way over."
Another witness, Michelle, told said she was one car behind the bus when the accident happened.
"The car in front (of me) got sideswiped... and the next thing I saw it looked like the bus jumped literally 30 feet in the air like you see on TV shows and the bus went sideways, sliding two lanes across the freeway and went into the embankment."
Many of the players and coaches had to escape via the emergency hatch on the top of the bus.
Pratt says none of the 38 people on board was seriously injured -- mostly just a few bumps and bruises. Ten players were taken to a hospital to be checked out as a precaution. Six were treated at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but hospital officials say they don’t expect any of them will be held overnight. Three others were to Valley Medical Center and one was taken to Highline Medical Center.
The team was on its way the Tacoma Dome to play in a state semifinal game, and the fact that the players were wearing most of their football pads certainly helped avoid serious injuries, Pratt said.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association said the game has been postponed to 7 p.m. Monday at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood. The 12-0 Bellevue Wolverines will play the 9-3 Capital Cougars in the Class 3A semifinals.
The two right lanes of the freeway were blocked for over two hours due to the lengthy investigation and cleanup process as the bus spilled some fuel in the crash.
A semi-truck and two passenger vehicles were also involved in the collision, Pratt said.
