News / World
Seventh Passenger in Bluffton University Bus Accident Dies
A seventh passenger on the charter bus carrying the Bluffton University college baseball team has died. Eighteen-year-old Zach Arend succumbed to his injuries early Friday morning at an Atlanta hospital. Arend had suffered a fractured pelvis, collapsed lungs and chest and abdominal injuries when the bus carrying his school went through a guard rail on a highway overpass and hit the pavement nearly forty-feet below.
The team had been traveling south on Interstate 75 last Friday when the driver of the bus mistakenly thought an exit ramp was a highway lane. By the time the driver slammed on the brakes it was too late and the bus slammed through the concrete barrier on the overpass.
Four players, the driver and his wife were killed in the accident while Arend passed away one-week after the crash.
Two players remain at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, one in critical condition and one in fair condition. James Grandey, the team’s head coach, is listed as stable in the intensive care unit at Piedmont Hospital while one other player was listed as being in stable condition at Atlanta Medical Center.
Bluffton University is located about 50 miles south of Toledo, Ohio, and is affiliated with the Mennonite Church USA. They college has an enrollment of approximately 1,150 students.
