Bodies recovered from Budapest river boat tragedy
The bodies of four more victims of the tour boat crash on the Danube in Budapest have been recovered from the river.
Rescue personnel could be seen early this morning on a barge next to the partially raised boat, carrying stretchers with body bags.
Meanwhile divers are continuing to search the hull of the Mermaid, which sank on May 29 after colliding with a Viking river cruise ship. Recovery attempts have been hampered by high water levels, strong currents and bad visibility.
Nineteen tourists from South Korea and a Hungarian crewman died in the accident, and eight people are still missing. Only seven of the 35 people onboard were rescued.
A huge floating crane is being used at Budapest’s Margit Bridge to winch the Mermaid to the surface of the river.
The captain of Viking Sigyn, which collided with the Mermaid, has been detained on suspicion of reckless misconduct in waterborne traffic leading to mass casualites. He has been identified by Hungarian police only as C. Yuriy from Odessa, Ukraine.
Prosecutors claim he was the captain of another Viking ship involved in a non-fatal crash in April in the Netherlands, however the cruise line issued a statement saying that although he was onboard the Viking Idun at the time of the collision near the Dutch town of Terneuzen, he was not serving as captain at the time. He denies any wrongdoing.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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