ZAGREB, Croatia – A Polish-registered bus carrying pilgrims to a shrine in Bosnia skidded off a highway in northern Croatia early Saturday, killing at least 12 people and injuring several others, police and officials said .
Croatian police said on Twitter that “in the skid of a bus with Polish license plates, according to initial information from the field, 11 people died and several were injured.” Officials said another passenger later died in a hospital and the bus was carrying 43 people.
Croatian public television HRT reported that around 30 people were injured, many of them seriously. He said the most likely cause of the crash was the driver falling asleep.
The broadcaster showed video of a broken blue bus in a ditch beside the highway. The bus was heading towards Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the bus was carrying pilgrims to the Catholic shrine in Medjugorje, a town in southern Bosnia. The shrine is Europe’s third most popular pilgrimage destination after Lourdes and Fatima, although the Vatican has not verified any of the reported miracles witnesses have claimed to have seen there.
“This morning I discussed the details of the tragedy with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who ensured the full support of Croatian medical services,” Morawiecki posted on Facebook. “I recommended to our consular services to organize a support organization for the families of the injured.
Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinic said the bus came “from a place near Warsaw” and “according to some reports” it was transporting pilgrims to Medjugorje.
The accident happened at 5:40 a.m. local time, about 50 kilometers north of Zagreb, on the busy A-4 highway at the height of the tourist season.
Rescue teams were sent to the scene of the accident and an investigation into the causes of the accident was underway, Croatian media reported.
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