2 dead in charter bus crash in southern Colorado

Emergency crews respond to a bus crash on southbound Interstate 25 in Pueblo County, Colo., Sunday afternoon, June 23, 2019. A charter bus carrying more than a dozen people ran off the highway after striking a bridge support Sunday in southern Colorado, killing a few people and injuring several others, a state patrol official said. (Zach Hillstrom/The Pueblo Chieftain via AP)

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) — A charter bus carrying 15 people ran off a highway after striking a bridge support Sunday in southern Colorado, killing two people and injuring several others, a state patrol official said.

The bus, with New Mexico license plates, was traveling southbound on Interstate 25 when it struck the bridge structure and veered off the highway about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Pueblo, state Patrol Cpl. Ivan Alvarado said.

The identities of the two people killed weren't immediately known. It also wasn't known how many others were hurt or the nature of their injuries, Alvarado said.

Authorities had yet to determine the bus' itinerary, he said.

Three medical helicopters and dozens of ambulance and fire crews responded to the 2:40 p.m. accident, The Pueblo Chieftain reported .

The accident caused extensive backups in both directions of the interstate.

The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office referred calls for information to the state patrol. The Pueblo Fire Department didn't immediately return calls for comment.