Miami, FL : Virginia baseball team involved in Miami crash early Thursday night, April 21, 2016

A bus carrying Virginia's defending national champion baseball team was involved in a crash early Thursday night after the driver had an undisclosed medical emergency and lost consciousness while behind the wheel.

Virginia coach Brian O'Connor and members of his staff immediately began trying to tend to the driver when his medical issue occurred by administering CPR as the bus rolled through a busy intersection at rush hour and crashed into a roadside tree, said Miami Fire Rescue spokesperson Capt. Ignatius Carroll.

Coaches also helped steer the bus off the road. After fire rescue arrived to continue lifesaving efforts, the driver was taken to a Miami hospital in "extremely critical" condition, Carroll said.

"We commend the staff for their quick actions in trying to gain control of the bus as well as trying to initiate lifesaving efforts for this driver," Carroll said. "This could have been a lot worse if they remained in the intersection."

O'Connor and his staff were unavailable for comment Thursday night. The driver's identity was not immediately released, and there was no update on his condition after he arrived at the hospital.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the bus driver and his family," Virginia officials said in a release late Thursday.

Carroll said three cars and a motor scooter that were parked near the tree were all damaged in the crash. Some of those vehicles belonged to employees of a nearby car wash who ran over to offer further assistance and wound up removing a metal pole that crashed through the windshield — in the vicinity of the seats occupied by coaches in the moments before driver fell ill — and wedged the door shut, Carroll said.

"That coaching staff jumped into action," Carroll said.

The bus was carrying the Cavaliers from Miami International Airport to their hotel for this weekend's Atlantic Coast Conference series against Miami. The team eventually got another bus and made it to the hotel Thursday night.

Source :
Virginia baseball team involved in Miami crash