Eighteen people have died after a mini-bus and truck collided south of the Polish capital, Warsaw.
The accident happened shortly after 6am (5am Irish time), near the town of Nowe Miasto nad Pilica, when the mini-bus collided head-on with a lorry.
Local police said that 16 people died at the scene, while two others died in hospital.
Poland's Interior Minister Jerzy Miller was due to visit the site of the accident, the ministry said in a statement.
'All we know so far is that a van pulled over into the opposite lane,' a police spokesman said.
'I can't recall such a tragic accident on Polish roads,' Andrzej Matejuk, the head of Poland's police, told reporters at the site of the accident.
'The vehicle was meant for transportation and had only six seats for passengers.'
The van was carrying workers from nearby villages heading to pick apples at one of the local orchards.
Police said most were sitting on boxes in the back of the van.
A regional fire brigade official said that due to the fog, visibility at the time of the accident was about 100m.
The lorry driver, who was not badly injured, was hospitalised and will be questioned by police today.
