2 killed when bus crashes into overpass at Miami airport

MIAMI (CNN) -- A bus slammed Saturday into an overpass at Miami's airport, killing two elderly passengers, authorities said.

The driver of the tour bus mistakenly drove the wrong route -- on the lower level for arrivals rather than a higher one for departures, which buses could clear -- when it crashed into the 8-foot, 6-inch high overpass, Miami International Airport spokesman Greg Chin said.

The Miami-Dade Police Department explained, in a news release, that "the bus driver was not familiar" with the airport when the crash occurred around 7:25 a.m. Saturday. Signs in the area clearly mark bus restrictions in the airport, according to Chin.

Miami-Dade police "immediately began to remove injured passengers from a window" until firefighters arrived.

Except for one person who died at the scene, all 31 others aboard the bus were transported to local hospitals, according to police. One of them later died at a hospital.

Chin said that, to the best of his knowledge, those aboard the bus were Jehovah's Witnesses heading to a conference about 75 miles north in West Palm Beach.

The two fatalities have not been identified by name, though the Miami-Dade department did indicate they were both elderly men.

The bus driver was among those hurt, suffering what police described as "minor injuries."

Authorities addressed and assessed the situation all morning, with the bus finally removed and the area cleared around 2 p.m., said Chin. Vehicles were moving through the area by late afternoon.

Officials will check the integrity of the overpass to make sure the crash didn't cause any significant structural damage, Chin said.