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SAN DIEGO — A bus rolled over a highway embankment in San Diego County, California, killing three people and injuring at least 18 near Fallbrook, North County Fire said.

“We are brokenhearted to report we have 3 deceased on scene,” the fire department tweeted.

The crash of what was described as a charter-style bus happened about 10:23 a.m. on southbound Interstate 15 just south of highway 76, about 60 miles north of San Diego, California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Latulippe told reporters Saturday afternoon.

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"There was active rain at the time, but the vehicle lost control, veered to the right obviously traversed this shoulder and eventually overturned ejecting multiple parties," he said.

There were 22 people on-board, he said. The driver sustained minor injuries, Latulippe said.

North County Fire Chief Stephen Abbott told reporters that there were children injured. "It's my understanding that none of the deceased are minors."

The bus was headed from the Los Angeles area to the community of San Ysidro on the Mexican border, the California Highway Patrol told NBC San Diego.

The CHP's Latulippe asked for the "public's patience as try to clean this mess up and investigate what happened."

"We owe that to those people that were on board who lost their lives and their families," he said.

The area of the crash is east of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

Dennis Romero reported from San Diego, Nicole Acevedo from New York