At least 12 dead and 31 wounded

The death toll in the Budapest-Split motorway accident has risen to 12, and it came this morning at dawn 50 kilometers north of Zagreb, Croatia, when a pilgrimage bus from Poland bound for Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, rolled out of the lane and then crashed. pit.

Turin, an accident at dawn: two people were killed and two injured in a head-on collision of a bus and a car

Croatia, the accident that occurred this morning in Zagreb

The collision was very violent: none of the surviving passengers was hurt, and besides the twelve dead, eighteen were seriously injured, some in very critical condition, others 14 minors. Most of the victims and those seriously injured sat in the front of the car. Eleven people died on the spot and one died shortly after in a hospital in the Croatian capital. All victims are Polish citizens. The first ambulances, called by a passenger trapped under the bus sheets, arrived within thirteen minutes. The scenes described by the rescuers were terrifying.

“I’ve been working as a firefighter for nearly thirty years and I’ve never seen such carnage before,” said one firefighter, looking shaken. It is one of the most serious road accidents in modern Croatian history, and was not surpassed by the accident in 2008 of a Slovak bus that veered off the road, killing fourteen tourists. Yesterday the Polish bus left from a town near Warsaw, to stop elsewhere in Poland and welcome other passengers, the final destination being the Marian shrine in Medjugorje. On board were 42 pilgrims, including three priests and six nuns, and two drivers, a total of 44 people. The Polish government immediately sent a team of doctors and psychologists to help the wounded. I am also the Minister of Health and Under Secretary of State in Warsaw on my way to Croatia. The cause of the accident was not yet known, and the Croatian police opened an investigation.

The press immediately speculated that one of the drivers fell asleep behind the wheel, but the authorities did not want to confirm. Jacek Antoszkiewicz, owner of the transport company Megapol confirmed that the bus was for him, adding that the drivers were experienced and professional. “I can’t believe either of them are asleep or they are tired, and I am speechless, this is an unimaginable tragedy,” he added.