Croatia coach crash victims to be treated in Poland says minister

Ten casualties of Saturday's Polish coach crash in Croatia will be brought to Poland for treatment, a deputy health minister said on Monday.

Twelve people were killed and 32 injured in the accident north of the Croatian capital, Zagreb, when the coach carrying them careered off the A4 motorway and crashed into a ditch in the early hours of Saturday morning.

All the casualties are Polish citizens, and 19 are said to be in a serious condition.

In the night from Saturday to Sunday an aircraft brought four severely injured victims to Warsaw for specialist care.

On Monday morning, Polish Deputy Health Minister Waldemar Kraska said that Poland wants to bring more casualties home.

"We are planning this week, perhaps even on Wednesday, to transport to Poland people who were less badly injured in the accident," Kraska said.

He added that the condition of 10 people allows them to be transported.

Later on Monday, Wojciech Andrusiewicz, a spokesperson for the health ministry, said that at least 13 of the injured will be brought to Poland for treatment and the first three are expected to arrive in the country tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at the latest.

He told the public broadcaster TVP Info that the patients will be transported by special aircraft. "It will be two patients in a better condition and one patient in a serious condition, who still has to undergo surgery in Poland," he said.

Later, a larger aircraft will bring ten patients with injuries of varying severity, Andrusiewicz added.

Currently, 28 patients are still hospitalised in Croatia, including 17 severely injured and two in a critical condition, according to the Polish health ministry.