A bus carrying dozens of schoolchildren overturned on a highway near the English city of Liverpool on Friday, killing the driver and a 14-year-old girl, police said. 

The bus was transporting students from Calday Grange Grammar School and West Kirby Grammar School on the Wirral Peninsula, across the River Mersey from Liverpool. Traffic on the M53 highway was blocked as police and other emergency services responded to the incident, which was reported shortly after 8 a.m. 

Two other occupants of the bus were taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool with serious injuries, while a number of other patients were taken to surrounding hospitals for treatment to minor injuries, North West Ambulance Service said. 

A total of 50 children were transported to a casualty clearing center. Thirty-nine of them were discharged while the others were taken to hospitals for further treatment. 

-Associated Press