A dozen people were killed and at least 10 injured after a Polish bus overturned at night on a highway in eastern Hungary, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Sunday morning in a Facebook post.
The bus ran into a ditch and tipped over early on Sunday near the town of Mezokeresztes in eastern Hungary, police said, adding that the bus was heading towards the city of Nyiregyhaza on the highway when the accident happened.
State news agency MTI said there were 57 passengers and two drivers on the bus.
Emergency crews respond after a Polish tourist bus overturned along the M3 highway in Hungary on Aug. 16, 2026. ZOLTAN MATHE/EPA/Shutterstock
The bus veered into a ditch and overturned early Sunday near Mezokeresztes in eastern Hungary, police said. ZOLTAN MATHE/EPA/Shutterstock
Pictures from the scene showed a badly damaged red bus lying on one side in a ditch by the highway with windows smashed and belongings and suitcases scattered around.
“A Polish-registered bus traveling on the M3 motorway towards Nyiregyhaza … veered off the straight stretch of road into a ditch and overturned. Preliminary information suggests the driver likely fell asleep,” police said on their website.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki said on X: “It is with deep sorrow that I received the tragic news of the Polish bus accident in Hungary, in which so many of our compatriots died.”
Twelve people lost their lives and several others were injured in the accident, police said, adding that they were taking the bus driver into custody.
Police said preliminary information suggests the bus driver may have fallen asleep. ZOLTAN MATHE/EPA/Shutterstock
The injured have been taken to the hospital.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on X that a “tragic accident” involving a bus carrying Polish tourists happened in Hungary.
“The consular service is operational. We are in contact with the Hungarian authorities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide verified information,” he said.
