A bus swerved off a highway and crashed in Croatia early Sunday after the driver apparently fell asleep, killing 10 people and injuring at least 44 others — some of them seriously, authorities said.

The crash happened at around 12 a.m. EDT near the town of Slavonski Brod on the highway between the capital, Zagreb, and the Serbian border.

Authorities said after an investigation that the driver of the bus had been arrested after he apparently lost control over the vehicle after briefly falling asleep.

“He said he fell asleep for a moment,” local deputy prosecutor Slavko Pranjic said, according to Index news portal in Croatia.

Photos from the scene showed the bus on the side in the grass near the edge of the road. Firefighters and rescuers could be seen around the bus while traffic on the highway was halted for hours before the bus was removed and one lane reopened, local media said.

The 44 injured were transferred to hospitals in the area. Slavonski Brod hospital chief Josip Samardzic said eight people had serious injuries.

Health Minister Vili Baros later said 15 minors were passengers and that one girl was seriously injured.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic expressed “sadness and grief” and extended his condolences to the relatives of the people who died in the crash and the people of Kosovo.