At least 12 people were killed and several others injured when a bus skidded off a highway in northern Croatia, police said.
The passengers were adult pilgrims on their way to Medjugorje, a Roman Catholic shrine in southern Bosnia, Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic told reporters.
“We have 43 injured, 12 of them dead,” said Maja Grba-Bujević, director of the Croatian Institute for Emergency Health Insurance.
An investigation into the cause of the crash was ongoing, police said, adding that the bus was registered in Poland.
“All the victims are Polish citizens – we can at this stage confirm that,” a spokesperson for the Polish Foreign Ministry told private Polish TV channel TVN24. “The bus has Warsaw license plates.”
The crash happened at 5:40 a.m. local time (11:40 p.m. ET Friday) about 30 miles north of the Croatian capital, Zagreb, on the A-4 highway, which is busy during peak tourist season.
Rescue teams were sent to the scene of the accident, Croatian media reported. No other details were immediately available.
nbcnews Gt