Hungary bus crash kills 12 Polish pilgrims, driver may have fallen asleep

A bus carrying Polish pilgrims crashed and overturned on Hungary's M3 motorway, killing 12 people. Police suspect the driver fell asleep, raising fresh concerns over long-distance road safety.

In Short

• The coach veered off the eastbound M3 near Mezokeresztes around 1 am
• Police detained the driver after saying he likely dozed off
• There were 57 passengers and two drivers aboard the vehicle

A bus carrying Polish tourists crashed on a Hungarian motorway early on Sunday, killing 12 people and injuring several others, police said.

Authorities said the bus went off the road and overturned in a ditch, and the driver was taken into custody after police said it was likely that he had fallen asleep.

The accident took place on the eastbound side of the M3 motorway near the town of Mezokeresztes, around 140 kilometres east of Budapest, at about 1 am on Sunday.

Hungary's National Directorate for Disaster Management said 57 passengers and two drivers were on the bus at the time of the crash. Several passengers were trapped under the vehicle after it overturned.

Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maciej Wewior told Polish news agency PAP that all the people on the bus were Polish citizens.

The regional government in Rzeszow said in a Facebook post that the bus was carrying people from Poland's southeastern Podkarpackie region who were returning from a pilgrimage in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said in a Facebook statement that at least 10 people were seriously injured in the crash. He also offered condolences to the families of the victims and thanked rescue workers who were sent to the scene.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki expressed his "deep sorrow" over the accident, writing in a post on X: "I join the families and loved ones of the victims in prayer and deep sympathy."

The crash on the M3 motorway near Mezokeresztes left 12 Polish pilgrims dead and several others injured as they were returning from Bosnia-Herzegovina, with police saying the driver may have fallen asleep.

With PTI Inputs

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