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Preliminary Report On Softball Bus Crash Released

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on a crash in Oklahoma that killed four members of the North Central Texas College softball team.

The report released Tuesday offers no reason for the Sept. 26 crash on Interstate 35 near Davis between a northbound tractor-trailer rig and a southbound bus carrying the team home from a scrimmage in Bethany.

The report says the rig went off I-35 at a speed of 72 to 73 miles per hour, then entered southbound lanes of I-35 and striking the left side of a Texas women's college softball team bus, killing four players and injuring a dozen other people.

The four players killed were identified as Meagan Richardson, 19, Brooke Deckard, 20, Katelynn Woodlee, 18, and Jaiden Pelton 20, according to the highway patrol.

The tragedy shocked the close-knit Texas community college, where counselors were brought in to console grieving students and athletic teams on trips for away competitions were called home.

Truck driver Russell Wayne Staley of Saginaw, told investigators he was distracted by something in his cab.

An NTSB spokesman says a final report with a possible cause of the crash could take up to a year to complete.

(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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