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Hungary police lift capsized tourist boat from river
BUDAPEST, June 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Hungarian police Tuesday began lifting
a sightseeing vessel that sank in the river Danube in Budapest last month in
an accident that has claimed 20 lives with eight people still missing.
The Mermaid tourist boat was carrying mostly South Korean holidaymakers
when it capsized and sank seconds after colliding with a bigger river cruise
boat on a busy stretch of the river on May 29.
Only seven people of the 35 people on board are known to have survived the
accident, with the prospect of finding any more passengers alive seen as
practically zero.
Those missing include a six-year-old girl as well as the Mermaid’s
Hungarian captain.
Divers have been unable to enter the submerged boat due to the strong
current in a river swollen after weeks of rain.
The salvage operation has instead focused on fixing wire harnesses
underneath and around the vessel to prepare it for hoisting by a crane
mounted on a barge.
A police spokesman said Monday that the lifting operation could take six
hours, and will be phased to allow divers to search the vessel for any
victims still inside.
Once out of the water and removed to a secure location the Mermaid will be
examined by police who have launched a criminal probe into the cause of the
accident.
The captain of the river cruise ship, the Viking Sigyn, has been arrested
on suspicion of “endangering waterborne traffic resulting in multiple
deaths”.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1031 hrs