M3 Motorway Catastrophe: Polish Tour Bus Overturns in Hungary, Leaving Twelve Dead

Mezokeresztes, Hungary—Twelve travelers died inside a mangled touring coach after the heavy vehicle veered off a major eastern highway and flipped into a deep drainage ditch. The disaster unfolded in total darkness along a flat stretch of the motorway.

The vehicle carried fifty-seven passengers alongside two professional drivers. Most of the passengers were Polish citizens heading home from a religious pilgrimage site in the Balkans.

The bus drifted from the eastbound lanes without braking, plunging straight off the tarmac. It rolled onto its side, crushing the upper structure against the earthen embankment.

Eleven people died before emergency services could pry open the shattered doors. A twelfth victim succumbed to internal injuries shortly after arriving at a regional hospital.

Fire brigades used heavy hydraulic cutters to extract passengers trapped beneath the overturned hull. Medical helicopters landed on the closed motorway to evacuate the most critical casualties.

Investigators took the surviving driver into custody as rescue operations stretched into the morning hours. Preliminary findings indicate the operator likely fell asleep at the wheel during the long overnight transit.

Transport authorities launched special vehicle safety inspections across Poland in response to the massive loss of life. Diplomatic teams from Warsaw coordinated the repatriation of surviving passengers via air ambulance flights.

State prosecutors continue gathering tachograph data to verify the exact rest periods logged by the driving crew.