A bus carrying Polish pilgrims was involved in an accident in the early hours of Sunday on the M3 motorway. Twelve people were killed and at least ten were seriously injured in the crash; the driver most likely fell asleep. Several politicians expressed their condolences. Following the technical recovery operation, the motorway became passable again in the direction of Vásárosnamény from late Sunday morning.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar provided an update on Facebook regarding the number of fatalities and seriously injured, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, and thanked those who took part in the rescue operation.
Interior Minister Gábor Pósfai also announced on his Facebook page that there were 59 people on board the vehicle involved in the accident, and that the driver had been taken into custody.
According to current police data, the driver is presumed to have fallen asleep.
The National Ambulance Service reported that 12 people were killed in the accident, with paramedics treating one person with life-threatening injuries, nine with serious injuries, and a further 37 with minor injuries. The injured were transported to hospitals in Miskolc, Debrecen, Nyíregyháza, and Eger.
The National Directorate General for Disaster Management reported that the accident occurred at around 1 a.m. on Sunday, when a Polish bus travelling in the direction of Vásárosnamény veered into a ditch and rolled onto its side on the Nyíregyháza-bound carriageway of the M3 motorway at kilometre marker 139, after the Mezőkeresztes exit.
The Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County Central Hospital and University Teaching Hospital informed MTI that nine injured persons had arrived at their facility from the scene of the accident.
Of the injured, two patients were admitted to hospital in serious, life-threatening condition, one injured person is in the neurosurgery ward, and a further six injured are being treated in the trauma ward. The deceased were transported to the hospital’s pathology department.
Miskolci Városi Közlekedési Zrt. (MVK Zrt.), in a statement sent to MTI, expressed its condolences and wrote that it had dispatched its own bus to the scene of the accident so that passengers could keep warm during the cool early morning hours, and subsequently transported by special service those passengers who were able to continue their journey to Nyíregyháza.
Foreign Minister Anita Orbán announced on her Facebook page that the Polish embassy had been notified of the accident immediately, is in continuous contact with the Miskolc police, and was also briefed during the night by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She said that a relief bus had set off from Poland for those affected.
Ágnes Forsthoffer, the Speaker of the House exercising the powers of the President of the Republic, expressed her sincere condolences to the families of those who died in the bus accident and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. The Speaker thanked the professional units and civilian volunteers who responded to the accident and did everything in their power to save lives.
In addition to the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and the Interior Minister, several other members of the government expressed their condolences to the relatives of those who died in the Polish bus accident.
Bence Rétvári, the parliamentary group leader of KDNP, expressed his sincere condolences on his Facebook page and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki also expressed his condolences.
“Faced with an unimaginable tragedy that touches us all, I join the families and loved ones of the victims in prayer and deep sympathy,” reads Nawrocki’s post published on X. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced on X that Polish diplomacy is in contact with the Hungarian authorities. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maciej Wewiór confirmed the death toll at a press conference in Warsaw.
The spokesperson for the Subcarpathian Voivodeship office in Rzeszów, eastern Poland, announced that the passengers on the bus were participants in a pilgrimage that had set out from the voivodeship’s territory and were returning from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Útinform wrote on its website late Sunday morning that on the M3 motorway, in the direction of Vásárosnamény, the road closure at junction No. 139 at Mezőkeresztes had been lifted and traffic was moving in two lanes, though the hard shoulder remains closed due to the ongoing on-site investigation.
Artificial intelligence was used for the translation of parts of the original Hungarian text.
