Pilgrims escape coach crash unharmed

Dozens of Austrian pilgrims had a narrow escape as their coach crashed on a motorway in Croatia.Local police announced today (Thurs) no one was injured when the vehicle ploughed into a fence erected alongside a motorway near Sestanovac yesterday.Officials told the Croatian Times online newspaper that the group – consisting of 47 Austrians – were travelling to Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovia, a world-famous pilgrimage site due to reports of apparitions of the Virgin Mary to believers 30 years ago.The group are understood to have continued their journey in a replacement coach.Meanwhile, traffic police in the western Austrian province of Vorarlberg are investigating after the driver of a caravan sped off after causing a pile-up in a tunnel on the A14 Rhine Valley motorway.The vehicle registered in Switzerland stopped for unclear reasons in the middle of the Amberg tunnel. An Austrian motorist failed to stop in time. The man was not injured when he crashed into the rear end of the white caravan which drove on after the incident.