PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State Police now say nine people have died in the Sunday morning bus crash along an icy Oregon highway.

Authorities say the bus careened through a guardrail and down a steep embankment, killing nine and injuring about 20 others.

The charter bus carrying about 40 people lost control around 10:30 a.m. on the snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84.

The bus came to rest at the bottom of a snowy slope. More than a dozen rescue workers descended the hill and used ropes to help retrieve people from the wreckage in freezing weather.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.