The accident occurred around 1 a.m. from Saturday to Sunday. A bus with Podkarpacie license plates drove into a ditch on the M3 highway in Hungary, which connects Budapest with the north-eastern part of the country. There were 57 passengers and two drivers on board. These are Polish pilgrims who were returning from Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
12 people died and 10 were seriously injured.
According to the order of the Minister of Infrastructure, Dariusz Klimczak, the Road Transport Inspectorate will inspect this transport company. Tomorrow I will make a decision on the date of the inspection and this company will definitely be inspected by inspectors - said Marek Konkolewski, acting. deputy Chief Inspector of Road Transport, in an interview with RMF FM.
Marek Konkolewski added that the Inspectorate will check in the register of transport entrepreneurs whether this company has already been inspected. However, he said that over the last six years, this company's buses were inspected 11 times by Road Transport Inspectors.
The last such inspection took place on February 24, 2025, and during these 11 bus inspections, these inspections resulted in positive results in nine cases, so the inspectors did not reveal any violations. However, two inspections resulted in violations - said Marek Konkolewski.
He explained that during the first one, the inspectors found the lack of the so-called record sheets, and in the second situation - violations related to working time.
Administrative proceedings have been initiated. The first inspection, regarding record sheets, resulted in a fine of PLN 1,000, and the subsequent inspections resulted in the initiation of administrative proceedings and the fines also amounted to PLN 1,000 - said the Acting Officer. deputy Chief Inspector of Road Transport.
Marek Konkolewski said that only tomorrow he will receive full information whether the bus that had an accident in Hungary was inspected before departure by inspectors of the Provincial Road Transport Inspectorate in Rzeszów.
The RMF FM interlocutor summed up that Road Transport Inspectors successively inspect buses and since the beginning of the summer holidays, the inspection has inspected over 3.5 thousand. buses.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Wojciech Zajączkowski announced that both drivers were interrogated and one of them was detained.
The Hungarian police came to the conclusion that the circumstances of the accident justify detaining one person in custody - he said and confirmed that it was the person who was driving the bus.
However, he added that no charges have been brought yet.
The deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also asked whether the drivers were Poles. He replied: I have no information that would prove that they are not.
The government sent a special plane to Hungary with a team of medics and diplomatic representatives. Before departure, a press conference was organized during which Deputy Minister of Health Katarzyna Kacperczyk and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Wojciech Zajączkowski talked about the details of the action.
We want to ensure that all Polish citizens who suffered in this accident will receive help from the Polish state, help from institutions both there and in terms of transport to the country, emphasized Deputy Minister of Health Katarzyna Kacperczyk.
She added that patients will first be placed in medical facilities as close to their place of residence as possible, i.e. in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, primarily in Rzeszów. However, she pointed out that it is also possible to transport the injured to other centers, e.g. in Warsaw.
Deputy Minister Kacperczyk said that the Ministry of Health has two special planes at its disposal, adapted to transport injured people. She added that Polish services are also ready to transport some of the injured by ambulances to Poland. The deputy minister indicated that the schedule for the possible transport of the injured to Poland will only be established after the activities planned for tomorrow.
In addition to six medics, the support group that will go to Budapest will include a group of consuls, three people to be precise. They are to support the embassy on site in organizing the transport of the injured from the four cities where they are currently located to Budapest and then to Warsaw - said Wojciech Zajączkowski, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He indicated that the cities where the injured are currently located are: Debrecen, Miskolc, Eger and Nyíregyháza.
The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Budapest has launched a special hotline where you can obtain all information about the accident. The number is: +36 20 472 9502. Maciej Wewiór, spokesman for the Ministry of Diplomacy, emphasized that the hotline is intended for relatives of victims and appealed to use the number provided responsibly.
In turn, the Provincial Crisis Management Center informed that information can be obtained at the following numbers: 17 867 12 38 and 17 867 18 64.
