At least 10 people were killed and 30 injured in a horrific coach crash early Sunday on a motorway in Croatia, the national news agency Hina reported quoting a local prosecutor, reported AFP.
Hours after the accident, emergency services were still working to extricate some of the injured passengers, prosecutor Pavo Rukavina told Hina.
"It is horrific. They are trapped, they are crying out in pain," he said.
"At least 10 people have been killed and around 30 injured, critically or less seriously," he said.
The accident happened around 6.00 am (0400 GMT) near Zir on the motorway Croatia's Adriatic coast linking the capital Zagreb and the port of Split.
The coach which had Slovak number plates was carrying about 50 passengers, but their nationality was not immediately known, police spokeswoman Kristina Maodus said.
At least 20 injured people had been taken to hospital in nearby Gospic where three emergency operations were already under way, Rukavina said.
Hina said a helicopter had been sent to the scene to transport the injured to hospital.
The accident apparently happened when the coach clipped a metal safety barrier before hitting the concrete pillar of a viaduct.
Croatian authorities were not immediately able to say whether the passengers on the coach were tourists.
When the tourist season is in full swing, Croatia welcomes more than 10 million visitors -- more than twice the country's population of 4.4 million - particularly to the Adriatic coast.