BERLIN — Several buses crashed Saturday on a German highway near the eastern city of Dresden, leaving nine people dead and 43 injured, police said.

The crash, which happened about 2 a.m. Saturday, involved a Polish bus, a Ukrainian bus and a Polish minibus, said Dresden police.

According to a preliminary investigation, the Polish bus hit the rear of the Ukrainian bus and then broke through the median barrier, crashing into the oncoming minibus.

Two people aboard the Polish bus and all seven people in the minibus were killed. At least six of the dead were Polish citizens, police said.

"In my 36 years of work as a professional firefighter, I've never witnessed an operation with such a large number of dead and injured," Dresden fire chief Andreas Ruempel told German public broadcaster MDR.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Dresden and Radebeul.