Nine people were killed and 43 others injured when three buses collided yesterday on a motorway in eastern Germany, police confirmed.

The crash near the city of Dresden, which happened at about 2am local time, involved a Polish bus, a Ukrainian bus and a Polish minibus, said a spokesman.

According to a preliminary investigation, the Polish bus hit the rear of the Ukrainian bus and then broke through the central barrier, crashing into the oncoming minibus. Six of those killed were Polish citizens. German public broadcaster MDR reported that most of those who died were in the minibus.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Dresden and Radebeul, police said.