A Viking River Cruise ship ‘Viking Sygin’ a 135-metre, 1000-ton river cruise ship and a 40-ton, 27-metre sightseeing boat ‘Hableány (Mermaid)’ collided as they were heading North and passing under Margit bridge, in Budapest, Hungary 9.05pm on 29th May

The Hableány capsized and disappeared under the Sigyn within seconds with 35 people onboard: 31 South Korean tourists, their two tour guides, and the 2-member Hungarian crew of the Hableány.

Nine South Korean citizens are confirmed dead, and the seven survivors – all of them South Koreans – were picked up by civilian boats. 19 people remain missing The youngest passenger of Hableány was a five-year-old child whom authorities still haven’t found.

Low visibility and the strong current of the flooding Danube made rescue efforts very difficult. The wreckage near the base of Margit bridge was only found at 1:30 am on 30.05.19. A crane vessel arrived near the scene of the accident at around 7:00 PM on Thursday and the first diving operation began.

Rescuers say that the strong current of the flooding Danube and the 10-12 °C water temperature does not allow for much hope of finding more survivors.

The 64 year old Ukrainian captain of the Viking cruise ship was detained by police.

Image: A GoogleEarth image combined with a sonar image of the sunken Hableány at a press conference on the recovery operations in the Counter Terrorism Centre (TEK) headquarters in Budapest, Hungary, June 3, 2019.