BUDAPEST, Aug 16 (Reuters) – A dozen people were killed and at least 10 injured after a Polish bus overturned at night on a motorway in eastern Hungary, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Sunday morning in a Facebook post.
The bus ran into a ditch and tipped over early on Sunday near the town of Mezokeresztes in eastern Hungary, police said, adding that the bus was heading towards the city of Nyiregyhaza on the motorway when the accident happened.
State news agency MTI said there were 57 passengers and two drivers on the bus. Pictures from the scene showed a badly damaged red bus lying on one side in a ditch by the motorway with windows smashed and belongings and suitcases scattered around.
“A Polish-registered bus travelling on the M3 motorway towards Nyiregyhaza … veered off the straight stretch of road into a ditch and overturned. Preliminary information suggests the driver likely fell asleep,” police said on their website.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki said on X: “It is with deep sorrow that I received the tragic news of the Polish bus accident in Hungary, in which so many of our compatriots died.”
Twelve people lost their lives and several others were injured in the accident, police said, adding that they were taking the bus driver into custody.
The injured have been taken to hospital.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on X that a “tragic accident” involving a bus carrying Polish tourists happened in Hungary.
“The consular service is operational. We are in contact with the Hungarian authorities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide verified information,” he said.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than and Anita Komuves, additional reporting by Anna Koper in WarsawEditing by David Goodman)
