2 Killed & 5 Missing After Cruise Ship Collides With Motor Boat Off The Danube River In Hungary (2024)

Two individuals have lost their lives, and five have been missing since a boat collision that took place in Hungary on the Danube River.

The Hungarian police received a report late on Saturday night that an individual was found with a head injury on the shore of the Danube close to Veroce, around 50 km to the north of Budapest, the capital.

The bodies of a woman and man were discovered later nearby.

Hours after the police started the search, they found a damaged boat in the water, which they safely towed to the shore.

They are searching for five individuals — three men and two women — who they believe were on the boat.

Police mentioned that they found out that a river cruise ship was in that area during the accident.

They stopped a cruise ship with an impaired hull close to Komarom, over 80 km farther upriver.

Hungary’s public television station M1 reported that Heidelberg, the cruise ship, is a 357-foot Swiss craft that can accommodate 110 individuals.

No guests on the cruise ship sustained injuries, M1 reported.

The Danube at Veroce measures approximately 460 meters in width and is in the centre of a location referred to as the Danube Bend, where the Danube makes a nearly 90-degree sweeping turn toward the south.

The area is a well-known boating and recreational destination.

It is on a route that cruise boats typically use between Budapest and Vienna, the Austrian capital, about 230 kilometres upriver.

This accident took place five years after at least 27 individuals lost their lives in Budapest when a river cruise ship ran into a collision with a comparatively smaller tourist vessel, sinking it within seconds.

The tourist vessel named the Hableany, carrying 35 individuals who were the majority of South Korea’s tourists, was overtaken from behind by the larger cruise ship, Viking Sigyn, underneath Budapest’s Margit Bridge in 2019 (May).

Ukraine’s captain of the Viking Sigyn was found guilty of negligence last year, leading to a mass catastrophe, and sentenced to five years and six months in prison. He has also appealed the decision.

Police mentioned on Sunday that they had started criminal proceedings against an unidentified perpetrator on suspicion of severely endangering water transport and leading to the death of many.

A spokesperson associated with the Directorate General for Disaster Management told a Hungarian news agency named the MTI that almost 90 individuals from several regional disaster management bodies were searching for the missing from the land, sky, and water.

Imre Doka informed that about 12 boats and three drones, in addition to two rescue divers, are actively involved in the search.

Reference: Reuters

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