Driver k!lled, 23 injured as bus carrying athletes crashes into tree enroute sports competition

A bus carrying young athletes to a competition in Hungary veered into the opposing lane and then collided with a tree, k!lling the driver and injuring nearly two dozen, police said. 

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The accident occurred in the town of Hird in southwestern Hungary at around 5:20 a.m. local time on Saturday, May 30, Baranya County Police said in a statement, adding that the cause of the accident had not yet been determined. 

Competitors in the aerobics department at the Pécs Sports School were traveling by rented bus to the Folyondár Street Hall in Budapest for the second round of the Hungarian Cup on Saturday, May 30, when the bus suddenly veered off the road in the Hird area, according to a news release from the sports organization and management company PSN Zrt.

There were 28 people on the bus including 19 youth competitors from the aerobics division of the nearby Pécs Sports School, as well as three coaches, six parents and the driver. 

The bus was taking the students to the second round of a competition in the capital Budapest, around 120 miles to the north, when the crash occurred.

Of the 28 passengers, 23 suffered injuries, police said. 

According to a statement published online by the Pécs Sports School, all passengers on the bus were transferred to hospitals by paramedics. One youth athlete suffered a broken femur “in addition to several broken fingers, concussions, bruises and abrasions.” 

Two coaches were also more seriously injured in the accident, and their condition is being continuously monitored, the statement said. 

In a post on Facebook, Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok called the accident “heartbreaking,” and offered his “sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and wish those who were injured a speedy recovery!”