A Polish bus carrying pilgrims crashed near Varaždin in northwest Croatia. On Saturday, August 6, the head of the Croatian Institute of Emergency Medicine, Maja Grba-Bujevic, reported 12 dead and 31 injured.

According to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, pilgrims were heading to Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which many believers associate with apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

The accident occurred around 5:40 am local time (6:40 am Moscow time) on the highway near the village of Breznicki-Hum in the direction of Zagreb, Reuters reported.

A spokesman for the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to TVN24 that all the dead were Polish citizens. “The bus had Warsaw registration numbers,” he added.

Morawiecki noted that he had already contacted Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and received confirmation that Croatian medical services would provide all necessary assistance. “I have ordered our consular services to organize support for the families of those who have suffered an accident,” added the Polish prime minister. On his orders, Polish Health Minister Adam Nedzielski and Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz, as well as doctors and psychologists, will go to Croatia before the end of the day.

The cause of the accident is being investigated.

Medjugorje is one of the important places of Catholic pilgrimage, where more than a million faithful gather every year. Every year from the 1st to the 6th of August, the youth prayer festival Mladifest takes place in the village. In 2019, Pope Francis authorized pilgrimages, they can be officially organized by dioceses and parishes and are no longer carried out only in “private format”.