7 dead, 21 missing after South Korean tour boat sinks in Hungary

A rescue boat searches for victims late Wednesday, May 29, 2019, after a tourist boat crashed with a river cruise boat, in River Danube in Budapest. The boat capsized and sunk in the river Wednesday evening, with dozens of people on board, including passengers and crew, Hungarian media reported. (Peter Lakatos/MTI via AP)

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Seven people are confirmed dead, officials said Thursday, as 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.

Another seven have been rescued, Pal Gyorfi, spokesman for the National Ambulance Service, said. They were hospitalized in stable condition following the accident Wednesday night.

Two Hungarian crew members are also missing.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in instructed officials to employ “all available resources” to support the rescue efforts in Hungary. Moon’s spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said in Seoul that Moon also ordered the launch of a government task force led by Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and maintain close communication with the family members of the South Korean passengers.

A team of South Korean officials were to leave for Hungary later Thursday.

The 33 South Koreans included 30 tourists on a package tour program in Europe, two guides and one photographer, according to the South Korea-based Very Good Tour agency, which organized the trip.

Agency officials said the tourists left South Korea on May 25 and were supposed to return June 1.

Most of them were traveling with their families, including a 6-year-old girl. Her status wasn’t immediately clear but she didn’t appear on a list of survivors provided by the tour agency.

Senior agency official Lee Sang-moo disclosed the identities of the seven rescued South Koreans – six women and one man, aged between 31 and 66.

The sunken boat was located early Thursday near the Margit Bridge, not far from the neo-Gothic Parliament building on the riverbank. Lee, the tour agency official, said the boat was anchored when it was hit by a bigger ship.

Employees from the South Korean Embassy in Budapest were assisting Hungarian officials in identifying those rescued and the deceased.

A rescue boat searches for victims late Wednesday, May 29, 2019, after a tourist boat crashed with a river cruise boat, in River Danube in Budapest. The boat capsized and sunk in the river Wednesday evening, with dozens of people on board, including passengers and crew, Hungarian media reported. (Peter Lakatos/MTI via AP)

Officials said searchers were checking the Danube for kilometers downriver from Budapest. The river was fast-flowing and rising as heavy rain continued in the city. Water temperatures were about 10 to 12 degrees Celsius (50-53 degrees Fahrenheit).

Earlier, the news website Index.hu said one of those rescued was found near the Petofi Bridge, which is about 3 kilometers (2 miles) south of Parliament.

Dozens of rescue personnel, including from the military and divers, were involved in the search.

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.” It has two decks and a capacity for 60 people, or 45 for sightseeing cruises.

Mihaly Toth, a spokesman for the Panorama Deck boating company, said the “Hableany” was on a “routine city sightseeing trip” when the accident happened. He told state television that he had no information about any technical problems with the boat, which he said was serviced regularly.

The Margit Bridge connects the two halves of the city, Buda and Pest, with a large recreational island in the middle of the Danube. It is the bridge just north of the famous Chain Bridge, a suspension bridge originally built in the 19th century that like the Parliament is a major tourist draw in the heart of the city.

The river flows south, meaning that survivors were likely to be swept through the well-populated, historic part of the city.

Index.hu reported that other riverboats shined spotlights into the water to aid with the search, and that a film crew operating on the Liberty Bridge farther down the river directed its lighting equipment toward the Danube to assist. In recent years, Budapest has emerged as a popular destination for film, television and other commercial video production.

Budapest has enjoyed a boom in overseas tourism in recent years. Long-haul flights from as far away as Dubai and Beijing increasingly fly visitors from Asia and the Middle East to the Hungarian capital, a relatively affordable but history-rich European destination.

Hajoregiszter.hu, a local ship-tracking website, lists the “Hableany” as having been built in 1949 in what was then the Soviet Union. /kga