12 Polish pilgrims bound for Medjugorje killed in bus crash in Croatia
Map of Croatia. / Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 7, 2022 / 04:40 am (CNA).
Twelve Polish pilgrims bound for Medjugorje were killed Saturday when their bus crashed into a ditch, authorities said. Another 31 people were injured, some critically.
A Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman told Polish private broadcaster TVN24 that all the victims were adult Polish citizens.
Pope Francis said Sunday following his Angelus reflection that he was praying for the victims.
🇭🇷12 Poles killed in Croatia bus crash: Images from the scene of the bus crash in which twelve Polish pilgrims were killed on a motorway in northern Croatia. The bus was bound for Zagreb. Some reports have suggested those aboard were on their way to Medjugorje, a Catholic pic.twitter.com/GIxZMaIZYg
— World News 24 (@DailyWorld24) August 6, 2022
The accident happened at around 5:40 a.m. local time when the bus veered off the A4 road between Jarek Bisaski and Podvorec, northeast of Zagreb.
The pilgrims included three priests and six nuns, the BBC reported. The news agency said the trip to Medjugorje, the site of alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was organized by the Brotherhood of St Joseph Catholic group.
Poland's justice minister and prosecutor general ordered the Warsaw Prosecutors Office to investigate the cause of the crash, Vatican News reported.