CARLISLE, Pennsylvania (AP) - A tour bus carrying a college's women's lacrosse team to a game went off the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Saturday and crashed into a tree, killing the driver and one passenger and sending others to hospitals, including some with serious injuries.

Lacrosse players from Seton Hill University and three coaches were among the 23 people aboard when the bus crashed at about 9am, turnpike spokesman Renee Colborn said. It was not clear what caused the crash, but state police were investigating, said Ms Megan Silverstram of the Cumberland County public safety department.

Three of the injured were flown by helicopter to Penn State Hershey Medical Centre, where one person died, hospital spokesman Danielle Ran said. She did not give the conditions of the other two. Officials said all other passengers were taken to hospitals as a precaution.

The bus came to a stop upright on the side of the road with part of its left side shorn off, photos from the scene showed, though it was unclear whether that was from the impact or rescue operation.

The bus operator, Mlaker Charter & Tours, of Davidsville, Pennsylvania, sent investigators to the scene, company dispatcher Kelly Hay said. The company had no information yet from the investigators and could not comment, she said.

Seton Hill is a Catholic school of about 2,500 students near Pittsburgh. The team was to play Saturday afternoon at Millersville University, about 80km from the crash site in central Pennsylvania.

Another bus carrying college lacrosse players from a Vermont team was hit Tuesday by a sports car that spun out of control on a wet highway in upstate New York, sending the bus toppling onto its side, police said. One person in the car died.