The injured were taken to area hospitals and 18 were in serious condition, said Maja Grba Bujevic, head of Croatia’s emergency services. 16 emergency medical teams were dispatched to the crash site. Polish consulate official Dagmara Lukowicz said the bus passengers were Polish. The bus was registered in Poland, according to Croatia’s interior ministry. The 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 confirmed 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 assured the full support of the Croatian medical services,” Morawiecki said on Facebook. Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said the bus came from “a place near Warsaw” and that “according to some information” it was carrying pilgrims to Medjugorje. The accident happened at 5.40 am. local time (3.40 a.m. GMT) about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Zagreb on the A4 highway, which is busy during the peak tourist season. Rescue teams were dispatched to the crash site and an investigation into what caused the accident began, Croatian media reported. Croatia has attracted millions of tourists this summer, with around 580,000 Polish tourists visiting between January and July. Last July, 10 tourists from Kosovo died in a bus accident on a highway in eastern Croatia. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST
