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Emergency personnel work the scene of a head-on collision between a school bus, right, and an 18-wheeler in Calhoun County, Miss. Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011. Authorities say about 60 Choctaw County school students have been injured and at least three adults were killed. (AP Photo/Calhoun County Journal, Joel McNeece) MANDATORY CREDIT

JACKSON, Miss. — At least 10 high school students were taken to hospitals and three adults were killed when a tractor-trailer sideswiped a school bus and collided head-on with another school bus Tuesday on a highway bridge in north Mississippi, authorities said.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Jon Kalahar said one of those killed was the driver of the 18-wheeler and the other two adults killed were school employees. About 60 students were aboard the buses traveling on Mississippi highway 8, about 40 miles south of the University of Mississippi at Oxford.

Ten students were transported to area hospitals, authorities said. One was taken by helicopter to North Mississippi Medical Center. School officials had said seven students were taken to hospitals but the reason for the discrepancy was unclear.

Mike Dunagin, the fire chief of Calhoun City near the scene, told The Associated Press by telephone that one of the buses smashed up against the guard rail of a highway overpass bridge. Photographs showed the bus with its rear area dangling over the guard rail, its hood crumpled and sheered away on the driver's side.

"We're very fortunate the bus didn't go off the bridge," Dunagin said from the scene.

He said the students from Ackerman High School in Choctaw County had been visiting the university at Oxford and were returning home.

Kalahar said the 18-wheeler sideswiped the first bus before hitting the second. "The 18-wheeler somehow got over in the other lane and scraped the side of the first bus and then hit the second one head on," Kalahar added.

Mike Thomas, a school board member in Mississippi's Choctaw County, described the students' injuries as non-life threatening.

Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the Calhoun City Fire Department, said authorities were arranging transport home for those who were shaken up but not injured. "Most of them were in total shock. We had numerous (emergency medical) officials here. We had some pastors here that could help with counseling," Brown added.

The students were about 40 miles from home at the time.

Tom Burnham, Mississippi's superintendent of education, said in a statement that the department was working with school districts and the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University to provide counselors for students and teachers.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of the three individuals," he said.

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Associated Press Writers David Brandt and Shelia Byrd in Jackson and Chevel Johnson in New Orleans contributed to this report.