A coach registered in Poland veered off a highway in Hungary early Sunday and crashed into a ditch, killing 12 people and critically injuring at least 10, officials said. The disaster marked Hungary's worst road accident in more than 20 years.
The bus, carrying 57 passengers and two drivers, left the road and came to a stop on its side near Mezokeresztes on the M3 highway about 140 kilometres east of Budapest at 01:00am, according to police. The coach was heading from Serbia to Poland and was carrying pilgrims, a Polish diplomat said.
Hungary's Interior Minister Gabor Posfai said the driver had been detained, and media quoted police as saying he had fallen asleep at the wheel. Eleven people were declared dead at the scene and another person died in hospital, the national disaster management agency said.
Rescue teams had to drag some people out through the windows after they became trapped under the crushed roof. Two cranes eventually lifted the bus from the ditch. A total of 37 people suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospitals in four cities. The highway was closed for several hours.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced he had ordered a special aircraft sent to Budapest to collect surviving passengers. He said "all those affected will receive the necessary medical and consular assistance". Hungary's Prime Minister Peter Magyar and Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski both expressed condolences to the families of the victims.
