MONTREAL - Two Quebec provincial police officers assisting in a towing operation on Highway 20 in Mont-Saint-Hilaire were injured Saturday morning when their patrol car was struck by a tractor-trailer.

Police say the two officers had been called to the scene at 5:20 a.m., after an Orléans Express bus drove off the highway and landed in ditch by the side of the road.

They say an oncoming tractor-trailer then lost control of his rig and slammed into the police car.

The pair were taken to hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Sgt. Daniel Thibodeau with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) said the two were still wearing their seat belts at the time of impact and added their injuries could have been much worse.

Two passengers on the bus were also slightly injured.

High winds and falling snow could be to blame for the accident. An investigation is ongoing.

With a file from La Presse Canadienne