(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Two women, a Czech and a Ukrainian, died and 31 people were injured in a bus crash in northern Slovakia early on Saturday, the Slovak health minister said.

"Rescuers found two dead people on the site of the accident" near the small town of Spissky Stvrtok, Minister Viliam Cislak told reporters, denying earlier information mentioning three casualties.

Cislak added that 31 people had been taken to nearby hospitals, of them six with serious injuries.

The bus registered in the Czech Republic and carrying 42 passengers on a regular route from Prague to Uzhgorod in Ukraine hit a concrete post at around 0300 GMT after skidding off the snow-covered motorway.