"We're thankful to be alive," says one member of a Canadian semi-pro football team that survived a fiery bus crash in Indiana.
A Greyhound bus carrying the London Silverbacks football team collided with an SUV in Indiana while returning from an exhibition game in Indianapolis Sunday afternoon. The SUV caught fire and the driver was killed.
It appears the SUV blew a tire, crossed the grassy median between the divided highway and collided head-on with the bus.
Jason Kennemy, the team's assistant head coach, says the team's long-time bus driver did his best to swerve around the SUV and to not let the bus roll over, before crashing into a ditch.
"I believe driver Jim Bereston basically saved lives on both ends, because it was just surreal. Next thing you know you're flying through the air and you don't know what's going to happen. It was unbelievable," Kennemy told Canada AM Monday morning from London.
After the bus came to a stop, team members include McCartney Sealey rushed over to the SUV to try to save those inside while the vehicle burned.
"I was fortunate enough to be one of the first people off the bus. I saw the aftermath and just reacted," Sealey said.
Sealey and another player were able to pull out a woman and boy who were also inside the SUV. Asked whether he sees himself as a hero, Sealey said he just did "what anyone would do."
"I just tried to help. I just tried to do my part. I couldn't just see somebody in that situation," he said.
Some members of a U.S. National Guard infantry regiment who had been retruning from a training exercise in Michigan were on the scene within minutes of the crash to help those trapped on the bus. They helped with traffic control and attended to those injured.
"I was one of the people who needed to be rescued at the front of the bus," Kennemy said.
Most of the 14 players, coaches, cheerleaders and team employees who were injured were treated and released from hospital. The team was provided with a new bus and returned home late Sunday night. But the team's owner, Alan Lazar, and his wife Bev are still in hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind.
"We're hopeful they'll be home today or tomorrow. We're just awaiting word," said Kennemy.
Kennemy said he was proud of his team members for staying calm during the ordeal and working together.
"We're thankful to be alive. We're thankful to the players and the families. As you might now, we're semi-pro and we don't get paid to play. They just do it for the love of the game. So I'm just thankful we could bring everyone home safe," he said.
The Silverbacks play in the North American Football League, and are an affiliate of the Toronto Argos.
The cause of the crash is now under investigation.
