A van carrying farm workers crashed head-on with a truck in central Poland on Tuesday, killing all 18 people aboard the van, police said.
That vehicle had been designed to carry goods, not people, and none of the passengers were wearing seat belts , police said. The accident occurred in dense fog on a slick road Tuesday morning near Nowe Miasto, a town 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Warsaw, the police said.
National police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski said all of those killed were the Volkswagen van's passengers and its driver.
"There were many more people in the van than there should be," Sokolowski said. "They were not strapped with seat belts. They were seated on wooden boxes and planks, on makeshift seats."
He said they were driving in dense fog on a slippery road covered with leaves.
Magdalena Siczek-Zalewska, a police spokeswoman, said the van apparently was carrying seasonal workers to an orchard in one of Poland's best known apple and plum growing regions.
The van apparently swerved into the opposite lane and collided with the truck, she said, but added that police are investigating the cause of the crash.
Two passengers initially survived with serious injuries and were taken to a hospital, but they both died there.
The truck driver was hospitalized with slight injuries and shock, Siczek-Zalewska said.
Authorities called for three days of mourning in the Mazovia region.
