ZAGREB, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Twenty people were injured in a collision between a truck and a bus in the mountainous Gorski Kotar area in Croatia, state TV reported on Monday.
Snow and wind gusts have been impeding traffic in the area. The accident happened at around 11 a.m. on a snow-covered road. Drivers of the bus and truck were in critical condition, while 20 passengers from the bus were seriously injured. All injured were transported by emergency medical teams to the nearest hospital in Rijeka.
All traffic was suspended because of the accident and the bus lines between Rijeka and Croatia's capital Zagreb was late.
Heavy snow and strong wind have caused trouble not only in the Croatian mountainous regions but the whole country.
The Croatian Automobile Club reported on Monday that all traffic had been suspended along the sections of the motorway that connects Zagreb and Dalmatian hinterland.
Red Cross activists are trying to reach isolated household and provide elderly people with food and medicines. Reception facilities and accommodations for homeless people have increased their capacities. On Sunday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his delegation visited areas that are mostly hit by heavy snowfall.
Much of Croatia is in the grip of a polar cold front and temperatures are expected to drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius, much colder than the average for this time of the year. The snow even fell along the Adriatic coast, which is very rare in this part of the southeastern European country.