Eight Czech tourists have been killed and more than 40 injured in a bus crash in central Croatia on Saturday.

According to reports the bus hit a crash barrier on the Zagreb-Split motorway at around 2am UK time, before turning over.

Croatia's state TV reported eyewitnesses saying the bus began to sway before the crash.

The majority of those injured were taken to hospital in nearby Gospic, Croatia.

Two seriously injured children and one other have been flown to Crotia's capital, Zagreb, by helicopter.

AFP quoted Zagreb's hospital manager Tomislav Luetic saying "a 12-year-old girl suffered severe injuries. She is unconscious and in intensive care. Another girl, 13 years old, suffered a complicated shank fracture."

The Czech ambassador to Croatia, Karel Kuhnl, all passengers were sleeping at the time of the crash."At the moment of the accident nobody on the bus was awake. Everybody was sleeping," he said.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said the crash "a huge tragedy."

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  • Wreckage is strewn at the scene of the bus crash near Gospic, Croatia, Saturday, June 23, 2012. At least eight Czech tourists were killed and 44 injured in a bus crash on a major highway in Croatia early Saturday. The accident happened around 4 a.m. about 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Zagreb, on a highway connecting the Croatian capital with the central Adriatic coastal city of Split, according to a police statement. Croatia's state TV said the bus crashed through metal barriers in the middle of the highway, and overturned in the opposite lane near a tunnel. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

  • A police officer takes photographs of the bus crash near Gospic, Croatia, Saturday, June 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

  • Police survey the scene of the bus crash near Gospic, Croatia, Saturday, June 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

  • Wreckage is seen at the scene of a bus crash near Gospic, Croatia, Saturday, June 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

  • An aerial view of the scene of the bus crash near Gospic, Croatia, Saturday, June 23, 2012. (AP Photo)

  • Police and firefighters survey the scene of the bus crash near Gospic, Croatia, Saturday, June 23, 2012. (AP Photo)

  • Police survey the scene of the bus crash near Gospic, Croatia, Saturday, June 23, 2012. (AP Photo)