Eight Czech tourists have been killed and at least 44 injured in a bus crash in Croatia, police said.

The accident happened at around 4 a.m. yesterday on the main road connecting the Croatian capital, Zagreb, with the Adriatic coastal city of Split.

Croatian state TV said the bus crashed through the metal barriers in the middle of the highway and overturned in the opposite lane near a tunnel.

The road was closed because of the crash. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

TV reports quoted eyewitnesses saying that the bus started “swaying” moments before it crashed through the barriers. Initial photos from the scene of the crash showed the twisted metal remains of the bus positioned on its side, with bodies covered with white sheets on the pavement.

Reports said that a child was among those killed.

Most of the injured passengers were hospitalised at the nearby town of Gospic while three of the most seriously hurt, including two children, were flown to Zagreb by helicopter.

Gospic General Hospital doctor Marija Vrkljan Ilijevska said that those hospitalised there were not seriously injured, mostly having fractures and concussion.

The death toll from the crash later rose to eight after another victim was discovered in the wreckage.