Three Carleton University students are dead following an overnight crash in Ottawa between a public transit bus and an SUV.

Police said an OC Transpo bus was travelling northbound when it struck a westbound SUV at a busy intersection just before 2 a.m. The male driver of the SUV and two female passengers in the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene. Two other passengers in the SUV were taken to hospital for treatment, with one later released and the other remaining in critical but stable condition. Paramedics treated the bus driver and one passenger at the scene.

Carleton University president Samy Mahmoud said the news is devastating, and he offered condolences to the families of the three dead. He's asked that flags on campus be lowered to half-mast to honour the lives of the victims. Police said the cause of the investigation is still under investigation, but suggest that alcohol may have been a factor.

The crash sheared off a light standard and threw the bus into a snowbank.The intersection was closed for several hours following the accident but was reopened Wednesday morning.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080123.wthreedead0123/BNStory/National/home