Bus Carrying Polish Pilgrims Crashes in Hungary: 12 Dead
The driver reportedly fell asleep at the wheel, according to initial police findings. He has been arrested, and 47 others were injured in the serious accident.
The driver reportedly fell asleep at the wheel, according to initial police findings. He has been arrested, and 47 others were injured in the serious accident.
Twelve people were killed in a serious traffic accident that occurred on the night of August 15-16, 2026, in eastern Hungary. A bus with Polish license plates, carrying a pilgrimage group, veered off the motorway and overturned into a ditch, German agency DW News reports, citing the police.
The accident happened near the town of Mezőkeresztes, about 140 kilometers east of Budapest. According to Hungarian emergency services, ten people sustained serious injuries and 37 suffered minor ones. One person is in life-threatening condition.
According to initial police findings, the bus driver fell asleep at the wheel. He survived the crash and was subsequently arrested by the authorities, DW News reports.
The bus was carrying pilgrims from the Carpathian Foothills region (Podkarpacie) in Poland who were returning from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The vehicle held 57 passengers and two drivers.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has offered his condolences to the families of the deceased, German public broadcaster Tagesschau reports. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also expressed his sympathy and thanked rescue teams and doctors for their assistance.
This is the deadliest road accident in Hungary since 2003, when a train struck a German bus at a railway crossing, killing 33 people.
According to Polish authorities, the bus was carrying pilgrims returning from Medjugorje. The accident occurred around 1 a.m. on Sunday when the bus left the M3 motorway near Mezőkeresztes, plunged into a ditch, and overturned.
It is worth recalling that four years ago, on August 6, 2022, a similar tragedy occurred when a bus carrying Polish pilgrims veered off the road near Breznički Hum. Twelve pilgrims heading to Medjugorje also lost their lives then.
Eleven people died at the scene, while one more passenger succumbed to injuries in the hospital, services confirmed. Rescue teams entered the overturned vehicle through shattered windows to extract the injured, and firefighters and civilians helped free passengers trapped under the bus. The bus was heading toward Nyíregyháza when it left the road on a straight stretch.
