(Atlanta-AP) March 2, 2007 - One of the college baseball players aboard a charter bus that toppled from an overpass onto a busy Atlanta interstate, and killing six people, says he was asleep and awoke to see "the road coming up at me."
Eighteen-year-old A.J. Ramthun of Springfield, Ohio, says he was asleep about 5:30am Friday when the bus slammed into the overpass wall.
In his words, "All I remember was I woke up as soon as the bus hit the overpass wall. It hit on the side I was sitting on. I just saw the road coming up at me."
Ramthun says another player urged him to get off the bus because "there was gas all over the place."
The bus was headed from Bluffton University to Florida, where the team was scheduled to play Saturday. Ramthun says the bus was not scheduled to stop again until 8am when the team planned to have breakfast.
Atlanta police say those killed in the crash were the bus driver, his wife and four players.
Ramthun, who sustained injuries to his face and a broken collar bone, appeared at a news conference to offer his condolences to families whose relatives were among those killed.
As he put it, "It makes you think twice about life. I want to give my condolences to families who suffered losses. I just wish there was something we could do."
His brother, Mike, was on the bus and also suffered injuries.
Posted 2:01pm by Bryce Mursch
