Bus Carrying Baseball Team Falls From Overpass

[helderheid]

Bus Falls 20 Feet, Blocks Interstate


POSTED: 6:33 am PST March 2, 2007
UPDATED: 6:40 am PST March 2, 2007
ATLANTA -- A charter bus tumbled off an overpass and onto Interstate 75 in Atlanta Friday morning, shutting down the highway in both directions.

Related Content: Raw Video http://www.nbc4.tv/video/11153753/index.html

Images http://www.nbc4.tv/print/11153863/detail.html#

There were reports of at least six fatalities. The bus was carrying the Bluffton University baseball team from Bluffton, Ohio, heading to Florida.

There were so many people injured officials used a mass transit bus to transport them to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment.

The bus fell about 20 feet from the overpass and was blocking all southbound lanes of I-75.

Northbound lanes were shut down to allow emergency crews to get to the scene.

[Catherine Vincent]

1. How tragic and sad.

:(

[Sydnie]

2. MSNBC is saying injuries

but didn't report on fatalities. It's been a tough week for school kids this week between the tornados and this bus crash, not to mention the bomb threat at Columbine yesterday.

I hope all are safe and that there are no deaths from this crash all the same.

[ThomCat]

3. All those people...

:cry:

I hope everyone else recovers fully and quickly. And I hope the families of those six fatalities find peace.

[bdamomma]

4. what is going on??? terrible news.

[lisa58]

5. Press conference on CNN now

[AlCzervik]

6. a du'ers nephew was on that bus and is injured.

link
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2752390&mesg_id=2752606

[helderheid]

8. OH NO!

:cry:

In my thoughts

[gollygee]

7. Oh no :(

how awful :(

[Rosemary2205]

9. Stunning that no other vehicles were involved.

Near 6am that is already a busy stretch of highway. That no other cars were involved is amazing to me. Not even rear ending each other trying to avoid the bus blocking the road in front of them. Amazing.

[napi21]

10. I blame the engineers who designed the interstate for accidents like this!

I live in Ga.and I know exactly how this can happen. An accident like it happened at the same place in 1991.

Watch the diagram of the bus path on CNN and you'll see what I mean. All exits off this interstate are on the RIGHT, until THIS ONE! As a vehicle travels south in the HOV lane, you must continue to move to the left as right lanes drop off as exit lanes. THEN you encounter this left lane that is really an exit lane, and the real HOV lane continues straight ahead. It's obvious this bus driver was unfamiliar with the area and thought he was staying in the HOV lane. At the top of this exit, a driver must turn right or left because a path straight ahead would put you off the side of the overpass!

There are several other left exits like this farther south on I75, and also on I85, but the one where this accident happened is the first one you encounter.

I know I get a very queasy feeling every time I drive to the airport and pass one of these exits. EVERY TIME I pass it,I say "Why would they design something like this?"