Twelve Die After Polish Tourist Bus Veers Off Hungarian Motorway

A Polish tourist bus crashed on Hungary’s M3 motorway at about 1 a.m. local time, killing twelve passengers in a sudden overturn into a ditch next to the road. Immediate response by emergency services brought 35 survivors to safety, while the remaining crew and passengers were still trapped under the vehicle when rescue crews appeared.

Investigators say the driver fell asleep at the wheel. He was taken into custody soon after the crash, as police concluded driver fatigue was the likely cause of the accident.

First responders began by removing the bus’s rear axle before a crane lifted the wrecked vehicle. Rescuers saved 35 passengers and two drivers from the overturned bus, and the ambulance service treated one person with life‑threatening injuries, nine people with serious injuries and 37 with minor injuries.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Péter Magyar offered his sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a rapid recovery to those injured.