A bus carrying the IU Indianapolis men’s basketball team caught fire along Interstate 275 on Sunday evening as the Jaguars were traveling home from a game at Northern Kentucky.
“[The fire] quickly spread, engulfing the entire bus,” IU Indianapolis associate athletic director Ed Holdaway told Yahoo Sports.
A video posted to social media shows a towering plume of smoke emanating from the bus and fire crews shutting down traffic as they attempt to put out the fire. Photos shared by Holdaway show the charred shell of a charter bus with burned seats and no windows or roof remaining.
All members of the IU Indianapolis traveling party evacuated the bus without injury, according to an athletic department statement released Sunday evening. Most players and staff members “were only able to get out with what was on their person,” Holdaway said. As a result, there was “considerable loss of personal items,” according to Holdaway, including cell phones, wallets and gear.
IU Indianapolis athletic director Luke Bosso described the incident to Yahoo Sports as “scary and chaotic.”
“Most importantly everyone is OK,” Bosso said.
A “mechanical issue” caused the fire, the IU Indianapolis statement said. When asked if he could provide any further specifics, Bosso said, “That’s all we have right now.”
A school bus picked up the IU Indianapolis basketball team from the side of I-275, according to Holdaway, and transported the Jaguars to a local restaurant. They remained there a few hours until the charter bus company sent a second bus to pick them up. The team finally arrived home safely late Sunday night.
To add to the misery for IU Indianapolis, the Jaguars lost at Northern Kentucky 71-67 on Sunday to fall to 9-20 this season. IU Indianapolis has two home games left in the regular season, one against Robert Morris on Thursday and the other against Wright State two days later.