"Unfortunately we have had two fatalities at the scene," Huntsville, Alabama police chief Rex Reynolds said at a news conference. Both were girls, aged 17 and 18, he said.
He said the bus plunged off the elevated highway and fell 30 feet (nine meters) onto a street below, apparently after being hit on the side by a car "in an accident or an altercation."
Local hospital officials said 22 students were being treated for injuries.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006