Budapest, Aug 16. (dpa/GNA) – At least 12 people have died in an accident, involving a Polish coach in eastern Hungary, police announced on Sunday.
Emergency services said 10 others were seriously injured and a 37 people sustained minor injuries. The bus left the motorway on the M3 near Mezőkeresztes, around 140 kilometres east of Budapest, and plunged into a ditch, according to the police in the district capital Miskolc.
According to initial police findings, the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel during the overnight journey into Sunday. He was subsequently arrested.
The section of the motorway between MezÅ‘keresztes and EmÅ‘d remained closed on Sunday morning, in the direction of Miskolc. The authorities in the Podkarpackie province said a group of pilgrims from the region had been returning from Bosnia-Herzegovina on the coach, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
They said a total of 59 people had been on board the vehicle. Reports said 14 ambulances had been deployed to the scene, while images in the Hungarian media showed cranes being used to lift the wreckage of the coach out of the roadside ditch.
Hungarian Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, expressed his sympathy in connection with the tragedy, writing on Facebook: “My sincere condolences go out to the families of the victims!”
He thanked the emergency and rescue services at the scene of the accident.
Polish President, Karol Nawrocki, said he was deeply shaken. “In the face of this unimaginable tragedy, which affects us all, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the victims,” the 43-year-old wrote on X.
GNA