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Reuters

The captain of a luxury passenger boat has been arrested after his vessel collided with a smaller tourist boat on the Danube River in Budapest on Wednesday evening, leaving seven people confirmed dead and 21 missing.
Hungarian rescue officials said on Thursday that there was little chance of finding survivors from the boat, which had capsized and sunk with 33 South Korean tourists and tour guides and two Hungarian crew aboard.
“I wouldn’t say there is no hope, rather that there is a minimal chance [of finding survivors],” Pal Gyorfi, a spokesman for the Hungarian national ambulance service, told the M1 state broadcaster.
“This is not just because of the water temperature, but [also] the strong currents in the river, the vapour above the water surface, as well as the clothes worn by the people who fell in,” he added.




Police said the smaller boat turned on its side and sank within seconds of the collision under a bridge near Hungary’s parliament building.
They said a criminal investigation was under way to determine the cause of the accident. Police declined to say if the bigger vessel, the 135-metre (443-foot) Viking Sigyn, put out any signals for help.
Police said the investigation yielded evidence that raised personal responsibility, so officers questioned the Viking Sigyn captain, a 64-year-old Ukrainian, as a suspect, and later moved to take him into custody for reckless misconduct in waterborne traffic leading to mass casualties.
The force said it had initiated the formal arrest of the captain, identified as C. Yuriy from Odessa.
‘No life jackets’: 7 South Korean tourists dead, 21 missing in boat tragedy
Officials said the hull of the Mermaid, a 27-metre (89-foot) double-decker river cruise boat, had been found on the riverbed a few hundred metres from its usual mooring point.
A crane ship docked near the wreck on Thursday in preparation for recovery operations and divers prepared equipment. Police said the rescue efforts were hampered by high water levels, strong currents and bad visibility.
“Those who were trapped in the hull or were stuck underneath can be lifted only once the wreckage is pulled out,” a police statement said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban offered his condolences to Seoul. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the authorities would work with the Hungarian government to investigate the cause of the accident.
“What’s most important is speed,” Moon said in Seoul.
Some South Korean relatives of those on board started to depart for Hungary. Several family members were seen at Incheon International Airport in Seoul on Thursday night.
South Korean rescue teams and officials including South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha also left for Budapest on Thursday. She will hold a news conference with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Friday.
Survivors of boat collision in Hungary describe desperation on board
The foreign ministry said 30 South Korean tourists, including at least one child, three South Korean tour guides and two Hungarian crew were on board when the accident occurred at around 9pm.

Seven South Koreans were rescued, seven died, and 19 South Koreans were among the 21 missing, said Kang Hyung-shik, a foreign ministry official. The crew members were also missing.
The seven people rescued were suffering from hypothermia but stable, a Hungarian ambulance spokesman said. Police said the seven people who died had no life jackets on.
Video footage from a security camera screened by police showed the bigger boat catching up from behind at a higher speed, clipping the Mermaid’s left side.
“The [Mermaid] for some reason, turns into the way of the Viking. And the Viking as it bumps into it, pushes it … and within seven seconds … [Mermaid] sinks,” Pal said, describing the video.
Rescue officials deployed boats, divers, floodlights and radar, scouring the river for several kilometres downstream from the site of the accident.

Police said efforts were hampered by the fast currents of the flooding Danube, whose deep water was full of debris, at 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and flowing at a speedy 10km/h (6.2mph).
Well-wishers laid flowers outside the South Korean embassy in Budapest, and candles burned on the Danube bank.
Ship collision off Japan sinks ship, leaves one dead and three missing
The Mermaid’s owner said the boat – a Soviet model manufactured in 1949 and refurbished in the 1980s – had been in its fleet since 2003, with regular maintenance.
“We are mobilising every resource we have to protect human lives,” the owner Panorama Deck told state media through a spokesman.
The larger Viking Sigyn is a 95-room floating hotel of the kind that has multiplied as Danube river cruises gained popularity in recent years.
“There were no injuries to Viking crew or Viking guests. We are cooperating with the authorities as required,” said a spokesperson for operator Swiss-based Viking Cruises.


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Tourism

Captain C. Yuriy of ‘floating hotel’ in Hungarian boat collision arrested as hopes of finding missing South Koreans fade

A rescue vessel under the Margaret Bridge on Thursday near the site of the boat accident on the Danube river. Photo: Reuters

epa07613507 A woman lights a candle to pay tribute to the victims of the capsized boat at Margaret Bridge, in Budapest, Hungary, 30 May 2019. A sightseeing boat carrying 33 South Korean tourists collided with a large river cruise ship on River Danube near the bridge a day earlier, killing at least seven tourists. Seven tourists have been rescued with rescue efforts ongoing for the missing 21 people. EPA-EFE/Zoltan Balogh HUNGARY OUT

epa07613293 Police officers search for victims of the capsized boat on the bank of River Danube in Erd, Hungary, 30 May 2019. A sightseeing boat carrying 33 South Korean tourists collided with a large river cruise ship on River Danube near the bridge last night, killing at least seven tourists. Seven tourists have been rescued, 21 persons, including the two crew members, have disappeared. EPA-EFE/Zsolt Szigetvary HUNGARY OUT

Representatives of the South Korean travel agency Chamjoeun arrive at the site of a ship accident, which killed several people, near Margaret Bridge on the Danube river in Budapest, Hungary, May 30, 2019. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic

‘There was no help coming’: South Korean survivors of boat collision in Hungary describe desperation on board

A sonar is being used at Margaret Bridge during the search operation on the River Danube on May 30. Photo: EPA-EFE

South Korean rescue team members prepare to leave for Budapest at Incheon airport, west of Seoul, on May 30, 2019. - Seven South Korean tourists died and 21 others were missing after a sightseeing boat capsized and sank on the Danube in Budapest, Hungarian and South Korean officials said on May 30. (Photo by - / YONHAP / AFP) / - South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT NO ARCHIVES RESTRICTED TO SUBSCRIPTION USE

epa07612107 A woman throws a flower from the Margaret Bridge during the search operation on the River Danube in Budapest, Hungary, 30 May 2019, following a collision of a hotel ship and a smaller cruise ship on the previous evening. The cruise ship sank with thirty-three South Korean passengers and two Hungarian staff on board. At least seven people died and nineteen are missing. The shipwreck has been found at Margaret Bridge. EPA-EFE/BALAZS MOHAI HUNGARY OUT

Family members of South Korean tourists arrive to board a plane to leave for Budapest at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, Thursday, May 30, 2019. A massive search was underway on the Danube River in downtown Budapest for 21 people missing after a sightseeing boat with 33 South Korean tourists sank after colliding with another vessel during an evening downpour. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Rescuers on a boat are seen on the Danube river near the zone where the "Mermaid" sightseeing boat sank overnight after colliding with a larger vessel in pouring rain on May 30, 2019 in Budapest. - Hungarian police launched a criminal investigation into one of the country's worst boat accidents that left at least seven South Korean tourists dead and 21 others missing. (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP)

‘No life jackets’: 7 South Korean tourists dead, 21 missing in Hungary pleasure boat tragedy

epa07611442 A rescue boat searches for victims after a tourist boat crashed with another ship, overturned and sank in the River Danube, in Budapest, Hungary, 29 May 2019, killing at least three of the 34 people onboard, mostly tourists from Eastern Asia. EPA-EFE/Zsolt Szigetvary HUNGARY OUT

An official from South Korea's Embassy in Budapest stands in front of the Viking Cruises Sigyn hotel-boat on the banks of the Danube River in downtown Budapest on May 30, 2019. - Seven South Korean tourists were killed and 19 missing after a pleasure boat capsized on the Danube in the Hungarian capital, the foreign ministry said on May 30, 2019. A total of 33 South Koreans were onboard and seven have been rescued, with a rescue operation underway for the missing 19, it said, adding the boat capsized after a collision on May 29 with a cruise ship, without elaborating further. (Photo by GERGELY BESENYEI / AFP)

The Very Good Tour agency senior official Lee Sang-moo, left, bows to make an apology during a press conference at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 30, 2019. A sightseeing boat carrying 33 South Korean passengers and two crew members collided with another vessel and sank in the Danube River in downtown Budapest. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

epa07611443 Rescuers and police officers inspect the dark water from a bridge after a tourist boat crashed with another ship, overturned and sank in River Danube, in Budapest, Hungary, 29 May 2019, killing at least three of the 34 people onboard, mostly tourists from Eastern Asia. EPA-EFE/Zsolt Szigetvary HUNGARY OUT

The boat that sank was identified as the ‘Hableany’ (Mermaid), which is described on the sightseeing company’s website as ‘one of the smallest members of the fleet’. File photo: EPA

Death toll from Thai tour boat tragedy climbs to 48 after vessel carrying Chinese passengers capsized off Phuket

Thai officials from the navy, marine police and rescuers transport the body of a tourist after the Phoenix boat sank. Photo: EPA

Chinese ambassador to Thailand, Lyu Jian (R) arrives in Chalong pier in Phuket on July 7, 2018 as rescue operations continue for missing tourists following a boat accident on July 5. Thai rescuers pulled 37 bodies from waters off the coast of the holiday island of Phuket on July 6 after a tourist boat went down in heavy seas with dozens of Chinese passengers on board. / AFP PHOTO / Mohd RASFAN

Chinese rescue workers prepare equipments before a search operation for missing passengers of a capsized tourist boat at a pier in Phuket, Thailand, July 7, 2018. REUTERS/Sooppharoek Teepapan

(180707) -- PHUKET, July 7, 2018 (Xinhua) -- An injured Chinese tourist receives medical treatment at a hospital in Phuket, Thailand, July 7, 2018. Chinese officials on Saturday visited the Chinese tourists who were injured after two boats capsized in storms in southern Thailand's Phuket on Thursday. According to Thai authorities, at least 33 people died and 23 remained missing after two boats overturned in rough seas in south Thailand on Thursday. (Xinhua/Qin Qing) (gj)

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Strong currents, poor visibility and low temperatures mean minimal chance of locating survivors
Criminal investigation under way to determine cause of accident


Hope of finding missing South Korean tourists fades amid strong currents, poor visibility and low temperatures.


Hungary

South Korea

Moon Jae-in

Captain C. Yuriy of ‘floating hotel’ in Hungarian boat collision arrested as hopes of finding missing South Koreans fade

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Strong currents, poor visibility and low temperatures mean minimal chance of locating survivors Criminal investigation under way to determine cause of accident

Strong currents, poor visibility and low temperatures mean minimal chance of locating survivors

Criminal investigation under way to determine cause of accident