Two young men are dead after a three-vehicle crash involving a West Vancouver Transit bus on Lions Gate Bridge on Wednesday night.

Police say a car was heading north in the middle lane of the bridge at around 11:45 p.m. when it lost control, spun and crossed into the southbound lane, hitting a bus carrying 15 passengers.

A third vehicle crashed into the wreckage while trying to avoid the original collision. Police said the occupants of the two vehicles knew each other but were not street racing at the time of the collision.

The jaws of life were used to extract the driver and passenger, who were 20 and 21 years old, from the vehicle that struck the bus.

One of the men died at the scene and the other was taken to hospital where he later died from his injuries.

The bus driver and three passengers were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The Lions Gate Bridge was closed for seven hours as police investigated the crash and reopened at around 7 a.m.

Police say speed was a factor in the deadly crash.