Twelve people have died after a bus carrying Polish pilgrims overturned in northern Hungary.

The bus was carrying 57 passengers and two drivers when it left the M3 motorway near the town of Mezőkeresztes at about 01:00 local time on Sunday.

Police said the vehicle “went off the straight road into a ditch and overturned”.

The passengers were returning to Poland from a pilgrimage to the Catholic shrine of Međugorje in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The driver survived the crash and was taken into custody. Early reports suggested he may have fallen asleep.

Poland’s foreign ministry said almost all of the passengers were taken to hospitals in Eger, Debrecen and Miskolc.

Ten people were seriously injured, while Hungary’s ambulance service said 37 others suffered minor injuries.

The bus company’s owner told Business Insider Polska that the vehicle “was driven by two experienced drivers”.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki said: “With deep sorrow, I received the tragic news of the accident involving a Polish bus in Hungary, in which so many of our compatriots perished.”

He added: “In the face of this unimaginable tragedy, which has touched us all, I join in prayer and profound compassion with the families and loved ones of the victims.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar also offered his condolences and thanked emergency workers involved in the rescue operation.

An investigation is being led by Polish prosecutors from the south-eastern town of Krosno.