Budapest boat crash: Seven dead after tourist vessel capsizes and sinks on Danube river

Flooding and strong currents in Danube river impede rescue efforts

At least seven people have died after a sightseeing boat with South Korean tourists on board capsized on the Danube river in Budapest, Hungary.

The boat was carrying 33 passengers and two crew members when it collided with another vessel and sank on Wednesday night.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry said the tourists in the deadly collision weren’t wearing life jackets.

Several people have been taken to hospital, police and ambulance told state television.

TV reports that 14 people had been lifted from the river so far, seven of them dead. Officials said at least 20 people were still missing.

Searchers at the scene near Hungary’s parliament included a fire boat, while other boats docked on the river banks shined spotlights onto the river in a heavy rain.

At least one tourist had to be revived, and several people needed treatment, the National Ambulance Service told state news agency MTI.

Television footage showed the bank of the Danube closed off by police on the Pest side, across from the World Heritage site of Buda Castle.

Police ordered all shipping to stop on the Danube in central Budapest.

The Danube is currently flooding and has strong currents, making rescue efforts extremely difficult, a rescue diver told the state broadcaster, adding that the waters of the Danube were only about 10-12C.

An undated photo of the boat called ‘Hableany‘ sailing in the Danube river with the Hungarian parliament building in the background (Zoltan Mihadak/MTI via AP)

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.