At least 17 passengers hurt as cruise ship crashes into wall in River Danube

Bulgarian cruise ship was carrying over 100 passengers when it hit concrete wall

A Bulgarian cruise ship carrying over a hundred passengers has crashed into a concrete wall in a sluice on the River Danube in Austria.

The incident occurred overnight in the northern Austrian town of Aschach an der Donau, local police said on Saturday morning.

Eleven people were injured and taken to hospital as a result of the crash. Local media said another six people suffered less serious injuries that did not require hospital treatment.

Some 160 passengers were aboard the ship travelling from Bavaria in Germany to the Austrian city of Linz, a spokesperson for police in the nearby town of Eferding said.

The ship was able to continue onwards after the accident, the spokesperson said.

It was not immediately clear how serious the injuries were, the spokesperson added.

It was also unclear what led to the accident.

The River Danube is one of Europe’s most significant and iconic rivers, winding its way through multiple countries and cultures. Cruise ships over the river attract thousands of tourists every year.

Earlier in 2023, a Ukrainian captain of a cruise liner was sentenced to five years in prison in Hungary for his role in a 2019 accident when his boat hit and sank a smaller boat on the River Danube, killing 25 South Korean tourists and two crew.

Additional reporting by agencies