ZAGREB, 26 July 2021 - The prime ministers of Croatia and Kosovo, Andrej Plenković and Albin Kurti respectively, have visited the passengers injured in the bus accident that occurred on the A3 motorway at Slavonski Brod early Sunday morning. 

The Kosovo-registered bus with 67 passengers and two drivers on board, en route from Frankfurt, Germany to Kosovo, ran off the motorway at Slavonski Brod, eastern Croatia, at 6.20 am on Sunday, as a result of which nine passengers and the driver who was resting were killed. Forty-four passengers were injured.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Kurti flew into Slavonski Brod on Sunday evening aboard a Croatian army helicopter deployed in Kosovo as part of the KFOR peacekeeping mission. He was welcomed by Croatian Prime Minister Plenković, who had visited the injured passengers earlier in the day.

"I am glad that the prime minister of Kosovo promptly arrived in Croatia," Plenković said. Kurti said that this was a hard day for the people of Kosovo, extending his condolences to the families and friends of those killed and wishing a speedy recovery to those injured.

Kurti thanked Plenković for the assistance provided by the Croatian government as well as the doctors at the Slavonski Brod hospital where the majority of the injured passengers are being treated.

"I visited all the patients and I want to thank the hospital's directors and all staff who are looking after the patients," Kurti said. He was accompanied by Kosovo's foreign minister, interior minister, health minister, and presidential chief of staff.

The two prime ministers also visited the passengers who were not injured, who are accommodated in a boarding house in Slavonski Brod.

Plenković reiterated that Croatia would provide all the necessary assistance.

Kurti said that Monday would be a day of mourning in Kosovo.

The Croatian police and prosecutors have opened an investigation, confirming that the driver has been arrested after admitting that he fell asleep for a moment.

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ZAGREB, 25 July, 2021- Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Sunday that given an increase in calls following a serious bus crash, an information centre was established at the Slavonski Brod General Hospital which the families of those killed and injured could call at 035 201 111.

Beroš said in a statement that "those injured are in the best hands at the Slavonski Brod General Hospital," and that the Kosovo ambassador and a translator were with them "so that we can make these difficult moments as easy as possible for them."

The information centre collects all relevant information from the Civil Protection, the Brod-Posavina County police, the Croatian Red Cross and other medical services.

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ZAGREB, 25 July, 2021 - The driver of the bus which skidded off the road near Slavonski Brod this morning, as a result of which ten persons have been killed, has been taken into custody after an on-the-scene investigation, the Slavonski Brod deputy municipal prosecutor, Slavko Pranjić, told the press on Sunday.

Asked if the driver admitted that he had fallen asleep, which was why the vehicle skidded off the road, Pranjić said, "According to the information I have from the police on the scene, that's what he claims, but the circumstances will continue to be established."

Pranjić said the investigation was continuing to instigate criminal proceedings against the driver who, he added, was currently suspected of committing a crime against traffic safety with serious consequences.

As for what has been established in the on-the-scene investigation, he said the bus skidded off the road, that there were 69 passengers on board, ten were killed and so far 23 were established to have sustained serious or light injuries.

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