Twelve people were killed and dozens injured when a bus carrying Polish pilgrims crashed on Hungary’s M3 motorway early Sunday, with police suspecting that the driver may have fallen asleep.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar reported the number of fatalities and serious injuries on Facebook on Sunday morning, expressing his condolences to the victims’ families and thanking those involved in the rescue operation.
Interior Minister Gábor Pósfai said 59 people had been travelling on the bus and that the driver had been taken into custody. Police currently believe he may have fallen asleep while driving.
The National Ambulance Service said 12 people died in the crash. One person was treated in life-threatening condition, nine suffered serious injuries and another 37 sustained less serious injuries. The injured were taken to hospitals in Miskolc, Debrecen, Nyíregyháza and Eger.
The disaster management authority said the crash occurred at around 1am when the Polish bus, travelling towards Vásárosnamény, left the motorway on the Nyíregyháza-bound carriageway near kilometre 139, shortly after the Mezőkeresztes exit. The bus entered a ditch and overturned onto its side.
Nine injured passengers were taken to the Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County Central Hospital and University Teaching Hospital in Miskolc. Two were admitted in serious, life-threatening condition, one was treated in the neurosurgery department and six others in the trauma unit. The deceased were taken to the hospital’s pathology department.
The Miskolc Public Transport Company said it had sent one of its buses to the crash site so passengers could shelter from the cool early-morning weather. It later transported those passengers who were able to continue their journey to Nyíregyháza on a special service.
Foreign Minister Anita Orbán said the Polish Embassy had been notified immediately and was in continuous contact with police in Miskolc. The Polish Foreign Ministry was also informed during the night, while a replacement bus was sent from Poland to collect those affected by the crash.
Speaker of Parliament Ágnes Forsthoffer, who is exercising the powers of the president, expressed her condolences to the families of those killed and wished the injured a speedy recovery. She also thanked professional emergency units and civilian volunteers who took part in the rescue efforts.
Several other members of the Hungarian government also expressed their condolences. Bence Rétvári, parliamentary group leader of KDNP, offered his condolences to the victims’ families and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki also expressed his condolences. In a post on X, he said he shared the victims’ families’ grief and offered his deep sympathy in the face of what he described as an unimaginable tragedy.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said on X that Polish diplomats were in contact with the Hungarian authorities. Foreign Ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór confirmed the number of fatalities at a press conference in Warsaw.
A spokesman for the Subcarpathian Voivodeship office in Rzeszów, southeastern Poland, said the passengers were pilgrims from the region returning home from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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