A bus carrying Polish tourists overturned in eastern Hungary on Sunday, killing 12 people and seriously injuring 10 others, according to police. The accident occurred on the M3 motorway near the town of Mezőkeresztes, approximately 140 kilometers east of Budapest.

The bus, traveling from Serbia to Poland, was carrying 57 passengers and two drivers when it veered off the road into a ditch and flipped over. The national disaster management agency confirmed that 11 people died at the scene, while another succumbed to injuries in a hospital. The ambulance service reported that 37 others sustained minor injuries.

Rescue workers, including firefighters, had to pull some passengers out through windows as they were trapped inside the wreckage. Police stated that preliminary information suggests the driver may have fallen asleep, causing the bus to leave the straight road. The driver has been taken into custody.

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar expressed condolences to the families of the victims and thanked rescue teams dispatched to the site. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski wrote on X that the consular service is operational and in contact with Hungarian authorities, promising verified information.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki said he received the news with deep sorrow, offering sympathy to the compatriots. This is the deadliest road accident in Hungary since 2003, when a train collided with a German tourist bus in Siófok, killing 33 people.

Source: www.aljazeera.com