Three people died and 12 were injured in a road accident south of Karlovac on early Saturday morning when a driver of a car with Hungarian licence plates exceeded the speed limit, causing the car to swerve off the lane, break the motorway lane barrier and hit a car in the other lane.

The fatal accident happened at the 48th kilometre of the A1 motorway near the town of Netretic at about 0140 hrs Saturday.

The police and prosecutorial authorities conducted an on scene investigation on Saturday morning and reported that in the accident the 48-year-old driver of the car with the Croatian licence plates and a 47-year-old female passenger in that car died while their underage son sustained serious injuries.

A passenger in the vehicle with the Hungarian licence plates was killed in the accident. His identity has not yet been established.

Six injured persons were taken to hospital in Karlovac and another six injured passengers were admitted to hospitals in Ogulin, Rijeka and Zagreb.