Twenty-seven people were left injured or dead after a domino effect crash involving a bus, semi-truck and two other vehicles on I-25 north of Albuquerque.

The series of three connected crashes involved 38 people and happened in rapid succession on the interstate just after 2 Sunday morning. Of the 38 people involved, 24 were hurt -- four critically -- and three were killed.

The incident began with a car rear-ending a pickup truck on southbound I-25 10 miles north of Albuquerque. The collision forced the pickup to crash through the barrier cable separating the two sides of the interstate and end up in the northbound median, while the driver of the car was thrown from the vehicle.

An oncoming bus tried to dodge the ejected driver sprawled in the roadway, but the bus driver lost control and flipped into the northbound lanes.

The bus landed in the path of a semi-truck, whose driver unsuccessfully tried to avoid a collision but ended up side-swiping the bus. The semi-truck crossed into the southbound lanes and over the frontage road before coming to a stop.

The Rio Rancho Fire Department says Jaws of Life had to be used to free passengers from the bus. Thirty-five of the 38 people involved were on the bus. It's not known which vehicles the three deceased were in. New Mexico State Police say they are still identifying all of the victims.

Uninjured survivors of the crash were taken to an area shelter. Red Cross responded to assist.

KRQE reports Monday that the bus was coming from Denver and was en route to El Paso at the time of the crash.