The captain of the cruise vessel ‘Viking Sigyn’ was released on bail on Wednesday, two weeks after the fatal collision with another tourist boat on the Danube River, Budapest, that killed a total of 28 people, marking one of the worst disasters on the river in the last century.
On the evening hours of 29th May, the 27-meter double-decker tourist ship ‘Hableány’ (Mermaid) was on a tourist cruise on Danube with a total of 35 people onboard, when it collided with the 135-meter luxury cruiser ‘Viking Sigyn’ and sank in seconds. Only seven people were rescued.
The 33 out of the 35 onboard at the time were South Korean nationals.
Video by Hungarian police shows the big cruise vessel, ‘Viking Sigyn’ crashing into the smaller one.
Shortly after, the Hungarian court ordered arrest of the 64-year-old Ukrainian captain of the cruise vessel on suspicion of criminal misconduct.
The captain’s legal team has said he is devastated by what happened, but denies any wrongdoing.
South Korea’s government had formally asked for the captain to be kept in detention and it sent divers to help the Hungarian investigation.
Four more bodies – including those of the Mermaid’s captain and a six-year-old girl – were found as salvage crews slowly lifted the wreck from the riverbed on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Four more people are still unaccounted for, presumed dead.
