MIAMI — A charter bus carrying 32 members of a church group hit a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport after the driver got lost Saturday. Two men on board were killed and three others were critically injured, officials said.

The white bus was too tall for the 8-foot-6 entrance to the arrivals area, said airport spokesman Greg Chin.

Buses are supposed to go through the departures area, which has a higher ceiling, he said. Chin said the bus was "well over" the height limit.

Chin said passengers told him they were part of a group of Jehovah's Witnesses headed to West Palm Beach. Police said in a news release that the group had chartered the bus to take members to a church convention.

Some members of the group were from Sweetwater's Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, said Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maroqo. "This is a tragic accident that has affected many families, as well as our Sweetwater family," he said.

At the airport, two large signs warn drivers of large vehicles not to pass beneath the concrete overpass. One attached to the top of the concrete barrier reads: "High Vehicle STOP Turn Left." The other, placed to the left of the driveway and several feet in front of the barrier, says all vehicles higher than the 8-foot-6 threshold must turn left.

Three people remained at hospitals in critical condition late Saturday. The other 27 surviving passengers were hurt, but their injuries were less extensive, authorities said.

Because of their religious beliefs, Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions, which could be a factor in care for some of the injured passengers.

One man died at the scene; the second died later at a hospital. Police identified the dead as Serafin Castillo, 86, and Francisco Urana, 56, both of Miami.

The bus driver, identified by police as Ramon Ferriero, did not need medical attention. Ferriero, 47, was going about 20 mph, faster than the posted 15 mph speed limit, Chin said.

Most of the passengers' injuries were facial because of the frontal impact, said Miami-Dade Police spokesman Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.

Zabaleta said it was too early to say if charges would be filed against the driver. "The preliminary info tells us that he wasn't too familiar with the area surrounding the airport, and that's what led him to take perhaps the wrong ramp that led him onto the property of the airport," he said. "Unfortunately, we all know, he misjudged it and that's what obviously caused the accident."

Osvaldo Lopez, an officer with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, said he first heard a loud noise and was certain it was some sort of car wreck.

He said he went inside the bus to help and found several passengers thrown into the center aisle. He said the passengers, many of whom were elderly, remained calm after the wreck.

"It was just very bloody," he said of the scene.

After helping the passengers, Lopez suffered some injuries of his own; his left arm and a finger on his right hand were both bandaged.

Markings on the bus show it was owned by Miami Bus Service.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records found online show the company has had no violations for unsafe driving or controlled substances and alcohol. It also had not reported any crashes in the two years before Oct. 26, 2012.

The records show it did receive three citations related to driver fatigue in April 2011.

Miami Bus Service officials did not respond to a phone message Saturday.

Material from The Miami Herald is included in this report.