Three people were killed and eight more were injured when a van carrying two heavy metal bands crashed early this morning in northeast Georgia.

Georgia State Patrol officers told WSB-TV that the driver, who was uninjured, apparently fell asleep just after 7 a.m., causing to van veer down an embankment and crash into a tree. The accident occurred on I-85, about 65 miles northeast of Atlanta.

“The driver lost control, either by going to sleep or some other means, we're still investigating that. He left the roadway, travelled about 300 feet off the roadway and struck a tree with the passenger side of the van,” Georgia State Patrol Cpl. Scott Smith said.

The side of the van was ripped off, and three passengers were ejected. Of the eight people injured, three are in critical condition, and Fox 5 reports that two of the injuries are life-threatening. The three passengers who died have not yet been publicly identified.

The 12 passengers were all members of the metal bands Atlanta-based Khaotika and Huntsville, Ala.- based Wormreich. The bands, along with a third, Kult ov Azazel, were on their way to Atlanta for a show Monday night.

Cpl. Smith told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution that the band members “appeared to be in their late 20s or early 30s… from all over, from Virginia to North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, from all different states.”

Image via WSB-TV. H/T NY Daily News. Contact the author at taylor@gawker.com.