Oklahoma State softball postponed its games on Wednesday after the team bus hit and killed a woman who was on the highway. The Cowgirls were on their way to play games against Wichita State at Wilkins Stadium when the fatal accident involving the team bus occurred.
The accident occurred on Interstate 35 in Noble County, Oklahoma. The softball team’s X account wrote that “the Cowgirls’ team bus was involved in an accident on the way to Wichita. No one from the OSU travel party was injured.”
It is currently unclear why the woman was on the highway
According to KOCO News, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol incident report stated the accident occurred around 2:05 p.m. on Wednesday. It closed the northbound lanes of I-35 for more than two hours.
A source told the news outlet that authorities had already received 911 calls about a woman running in and out of traffic on the highway prior to the deadly accident.
“What we know at this time is that witnesses stated a pedestrian was running in and out of traffic when she was struck by the bus,” Lt. Mark Southall with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said in a statement to 12 News.
The Athletic reports that a motorist called the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to report a woman jumping in and out of traffic on I-35. Another driver called them less than a minute later to report that a bus had struck a woman.
Police are now investigating the crash. Around midnight on Thursday, police reportedly informed the woman’s next of kin. On Thursday morning, they will reveal the victim’s identity.
This is the second time the schools have postponed this game
Oklahoma State said it will reschedule its softball games against Wichita State. Interestingly, the schools had already postponed a game once before, due to lightning.
Back on March 10, Oklahoma State was losing 8-1 in the fifth inning to Wichita State when lightning flashed in the sky. Rather than wait the mandatory 30 minutes to resume play, the teams decided to pause the game and resume it on April 8 prior to another regularly scheduled game between the teams.