Bus skids off Croatia highway in deadly crash

At least 12 people have died and 43 suffered injuries, 18 of them seriously, after a Poland-registered bus skidded from a highway in northern Croatia.

The bus was traveling in the direction of Zagreb, Croatia's capital, on Saturday.

"All the victims are Polish citizens — we can at this point confirm this," a Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Polish private broadcaster TVN24. "The bus has Warsaw registration plates."

“Representatives of our embassy are going to the scene of the accident. The Croatian deputy prime minister and the minister of internal affairs are also going,” the spokesperson, Lukasz Jasina, said.

The broadcaster showed video of a smashed blue bus in a ditch next to the highway.

The accident happened around 5:40 am (0340 GMT), some 50 kilometres north of Zagreb, on the A-4 highway, which is busy during the peak of the tourist season.

The passengers were adult pilgrims who were travelling to Medjugorje, a Roman Catholic shrine in southern Bosnia, Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic told reporters.

The most likely cause of the crash was the driver falling asleep, authorities said. Rescue teams were sent to the location of the accident, Croatian media reported. An investigation into the cause of the accident was under way.