Bluffton marks sad anniversary

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BLUFFTON (AP) — Bluffton University in northwestern Ohio is marking the 10th anniversary of an Atlanta bus crash that killed five baseball team members, a bus driver and his wife, and injured 28 others.

The Courier in Findlay reports Bluffton planned a memorial service Thursday on the anniversary.

The team was headed to Florida for spring games when its charter bus plunged off an overpass and onto an interstate 30 feet below.

The survivors included then-22-year-old student coach Tim Berta, who suffered serious brain injuries. Berta tells WTOL-TV he misses playing catch, which he can’t do, but re-learned how to walk and drive and now works as a substitute teacher.

The crash helped lead to seat belt requirements for certain types of buses, a change that operators had long fought.

FILE – In this March 2, 2007 file photo, rescue workers inspect wreckage of a charter bus that was carrying a baseball team from Bluffton University in Ohio when it plunged off a highway ramp, slamming into the pavement of Interstate 75 below, in Atlanta. Bluffton University plans a Thursday, March 2, 2017, memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of the crash that killed five baseball team members, a bus driver and his wife, and injured 28 others. (AP Photo/Gene Blythe, File)
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2017/03/web1_115328835-c29e585b6aa04a06b497d0b6c4b527d7.jpgFILE – In this March 2, 2007 file photo, rescue workers inspect wreckage of a charter bus that was carrying a baseball team from Bluffton University in Ohio when it plunged off a highway ramp, slamming into the pavement of Interstate 75 below, in Atlanta. Bluffton University plans a Thursday, March 2, 2017, memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of the crash that killed five baseball team members, a bus driver and his wife, and injured 28 others. (AP Photo/Gene Blythe, File)

FILE – In this March 2, 2007 file photo, rescue workers inspect wreckage of a charter bus that was carrying a baseball team from Bluffton University in Ohio when it plunged off a highway ramp, slamming into the pavement of Interstate 75 below, in Atlanta. Bluffton University plans a Thursday, March 2, 2017, memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of the crash that killed five baseball team members, a bus driver and his wife, and injured 28 others. (AP Photo/Gene Blythe, File)
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2017/03/web1_115328835-f69770a67256411aa6e70d617d0075c1.jpgFILE – In this March 2, 2007 file photo, rescue workers inspect wreckage of a charter bus that was carrying a baseball team from Bluffton University in Ohio when it plunged off a highway ramp, slamming into the pavement of Interstate 75 below, in Atlanta. Bluffton University plans a Thursday, March 2, 2017, memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of the crash that killed five baseball team members, a bus driver and his wife, and injured 28 others. (AP Photo/Gene Blythe, File)

FILE – In this March 2, 2007 file photo, emergency workers upright the wreckage of a charter bus that was carrying a baseball team from Bluffton University in Ohio when it plunged off a highway ramp, slamming into the pavement of Interstate 75 below, in Atlanta. Bluffton University plans a Thursday, March 2, 2017, memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of the crash that killed five baseball team members, a bus driver and his wife, and injured 28 others. (AP Photo/Gene Blythe, File)
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2017/03/web1_115328835-2cc8b784dee643dea489384b5a18cf3f.jpgFILE – In this March 2, 2007 file photo, emergency workers upright the wreckage of a charter bus that was carrying a baseball team from Bluffton University in Ohio when it plunged off a highway ramp, slamming into the pavement of Interstate 75 below, in Atlanta. Bluffton University plans a Thursday, March 2, 2017, memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of the crash that killed five baseball team members, a bus driver and his wife, and injured 28 others. (AP Photo/Gene Blythe, File)

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