Twelve people were killed and dozens more injured when a bus carrying Polish pilgrims veered off a Hungarian motorway and into a ditch, according to the BBC and Notes From Poland. The accident occurred at around 01:00 local time on Sunday (23:00 GMT on Saturday) on the M3 motorway, which connects Budapest with Nyíregyháza, according to the BBC.

Accident Details and Rescue Efforts

Police said the bus overturned after coming off the M3 motorway — Officers believe the driver fell asleep at the wheel and have taken him into custody, according to the BBC. The bus had been returning from Bosnia and Herzegovina and was carrying pilgrims from Poland’s southernmost region of Podkarpacie, according to Polish news agency PAP.

Thirty-five out of the 57 passengers and two drivers onboard have been rescued by firefighters so far, state media reports. Emergency services had been attempting to lift the rear axle of the 24-tonne bus to remove the people trapped underneath before cranes arrived to lift the whole vehicle, according to Hungarian news agency MTI.

According to information from the Hungarian emergency services, 57 passengers and two drivers had been on the bus. “The driver probably fell asleep at the wheel,” resulting in the vehicle veering off the road and into a ditch, said police in a statement quoted by Polsat News. The owner of the local company that had been transporting them told Business Insider Polska that the coach “was driven by two experienced drivers.”

Government Responses and Support

Hungary’s ambulance service said it had treated one person with life-threatening injuries, nine people with serious injuries and a further 37 people with minor injuries. The country’s Prime Minister Péter Magyar offered his “sincere condolences” to the families of the victims and wished those injured a speedy recovery, according to the BBC.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk echoed his sentiments, adding he had decided to send a “special” Polish aircraft with foreign ministry officials and medical services; “We are together in this difficult moment,” he added. Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said his Hungarian counterpart had told him police had already begun questioning the bus driver.

Political leaders in both Poland and Hungary have offered condolences to the families of the victims, while the Polish foreign ministry has set up a special helpline for those affected, according to Notes From Poland.

Background and Context

The accident occurred at around 1 a.m. local time on the night of Saturday to Sunday on the M3 motorway in Hungary, though Later on Sunday morning, Hungarian Prime Minister Magyar Péter confirmed that 12 people had died and at least 10 were seriously injured.

Polsat reports that the group is from around Strzyżów, a town in southeastern Poland; the bus had been carrying pilgrims from Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina back to Poland.