Everett, Wash.
Published: Saturday, November 29, 2008

Team bus overturns on way to Class 3A football playoff game; no serious injuries

Associated Press

 SEATTLE -- A charter bus carrying the Bellevue High School football team overturned Friday in a four-vehicle collision on Interstate 5 south of Seattle, injuring eight people, the Washington State Patrol reported.

State Patrol Trooper Cliff Pratt said seven players and one person from a car received minor injuries and were taken to three hospitals. The worst injury was a minor concussion to one player, he said.

Pratt said an unidentified vehicle lost a ladder on the freeway about eight miles south of Seattle, causing several vehicles to swerve out of the way and slam on the brakes.

The bus, with 38 people on board, collided with a semi-truck and two cars, Pratt said. It overturned, but players and coaches were able to evacuate through emergency exits and windows, he said.

The 12-0 Wolverines were headed to play the 9-3 Capital Cougars of Olympia in the state Class 3A football semifinals at the Tacoma Dome. The game was rescheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood.

Bellevue assistant football coach Pat Jones told Seattle radio station KOMO that the bus hit the semi-truck. The impact sent the bus up onto a hillside next to the freeway, where it overturned.

"It was real surreal," Jones told KOMO Radio. "The kids kind of kept their cool. Everybody looks like they're going to be OK. We have a couple of kids going to the hospital as a precaution."

The accident blocked two southbound lanes of the freeway, backing up traffic for miles.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association said the game would be played at 7 p.m. Monday at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood, south of Tacoma.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA