12 Lives Lost as Polish Pilgrim Bus Veers Off Hungarian Motorway
A Polish tourist bus carrying pilgrims from Podkarpacie veered off the M3 motorway near Budapest at around 01:00 local time, plunged into a ditch, and overturned, resulting in 12 deaths and dozens of injuries, police said.
Initial police investigations suggest the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The driver has been taken into custody and is being questioned.
Of the 57 passengers and two drivers on board, 35 have been rescued to date. Firefighters attempted to lift the rear axle of the 24‑tonne bus before cranes came on site.
Hungarian ambulance crews treated one person with life‑threatening injuries, nine with serious injuries and 37 with minor wounds.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Péter Magyar expressed sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery for the wounded. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk echoed the sentiment, adding that Poland has dispatched a special aircraft of foreign ministry officials and medical staff.
The bus had been returning from Bosnia and Herzegovina when the accident occurred and had taken pilgrims from Poland’s southernmost region. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski confirmed that Hungarian authorities were already questioning the driver.
