Twelve Dead in Bus Crash on Hungarian Motorway

Twelve people lost their lives and dozens more sustained injuries when a tourist bus transporting Polish pilgrims veered off a Hungarian motorway and plunged into a ditch. The accident occurred at around 01:00 local time on Sunday, according to police reports.

The bus was navigating the M3 motorway, which connects Budapest to the northeastern city of Nyíregyháza, when the driver reportedly fell asleep. Authorities confirmed that the driver has been taken into custody as investigations commence.

Emergency responders have rescued thirty-five individuals out of the fifty-seven passengers and two drivers who were on board. Firefighters worked meticulously to lift the bus, which weighed 24 tonnes, as they raced to free those trapped underneath. Initial reports indicated that one person was treated for life-threatening injuries, while nine others faced serious injuries, with an additional thirty-seven suffering from minor injuries.

In the wake of this catastrophe, Hungary’s Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, expressed his heartfelt condolences to the families affected. He wished a swift recovery for those injured in the incident. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk echoed his sentiments, pledging that a special aircraft with officials and medical personnel would be dispatched from Poland to assist those impacted. “We are together in this difficult moment,” he stated.

The ill-fated bus was returning from Bosnia and Herzegovina, carrying pilgrims from the Podkarpacie region of southern Poland. Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski disclosed that he had been in contact with his Hungarian counterpart, who informed him that the investigation into the bus driver had already begun.