Athletes take unexpected Austin detour

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Plenty of people visited Austin this weekend, but one group that didn't intend to stop on the drive through was the Oklahoma City University cross country team.

The team's charter bus broke down as the charter reached downtown Austin. The smoke could be seen from a distance, prompting KXAN viewer Christina Angenend to send photographs of the smoke-filled bus and its sidelined passengers.

This is the second time the cross country team's charter has broken down on the road home from competition in San Antonio. Rachael O'Brien said she was asleep on the bus when someone tapped her on the shoulder and said the bus needed to be evacuated near the Holly exit.

"It started to get pretty smoky around here," O'Brien said. "The cars on the highway couldn't see anything because the smoke was so thick."

The team's charter broke down the first time in San Antonio. Given it would take another four hours to get a new charter bus, the team decided not to take any more risks and spend the night in Austin.