Captain arrested after fatal shipwreck in Hungary
Published: Monday, May 20th 2024, 13:30
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Following a shipwreck on the Hungarian Danube with two fatalities and five missing persons, the Hungarian police have arrested the captain of the river cruise ship suspected of being involved. The seaman is suspected of failing to render assistance resulting in death, the authorities announced on their website on Monday. The police assume that the "MS Heidelberg" collided with a motorboat near Veröce, 50 kilometers north of Budapest, late on Saturday evening.
One of the motorboat's passengers had escaped to shore seriously injured. That same night, rescue workers recovered the bodies of a man and a woman. On Monday, police and rescue teams were still searching for another three men and two women who had been in the boat. The rescue services estimated that the chances of finding them alive were minimal.
The hotel ship continued its journey after the suspected collision. The police detained it on Sunday in the town of Komarom, around 90 kilometers away. Damage was visible on the hull of the ship. According to the police, they questioned the crew members and passengers of the cruise ship. They did not provide any information on the nationality of the arrested captain.
According to media reports, the "MS Heidelberg", which sails under the Swiss flag, was on its way from Budapest to Passau. There were reportedly 110 passengers on board the 110-metre-long hotel ship. In Hungary, the accident brought back memories of a shipping disaster that took place on the Danube in Budapest in May 2019. Back then, a river cruise ship rammed into a small excursion boat. The two Hungarian crew members of the smaller ship and 27 South Korean tourists lost their lives.
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