Hope fades for finding 21 missing in Budapest boat disaster, with seven South Koreans confirmed dead

WORLD

Hope fades for finding 21 missing in Budapest boat disaster, with seven South Koreans confirmed dead

A woman stands by flowers and candles placed on the riverbank to pay tribute to the victims of the capsized boat at Margaret Bridge, in Budapest Thursday. Rescue crews were preparing to raise a sightseeing boat from the bottom of the Danube River Thursday as search teams scoured the waters for 21 people missing after the vessel, packed with South Korean tourists, collided with a larger cruise ship and sank. | AP

Reuters

May 31, 2019

BUDAPEST – Hungarian rescue officials said there was little chance of finding survivors after a boat with South Korean tourists on board sank on the Danube River in Budapest, with seven people confirmed dead and 21 missing.

The boat was cruising when it collided with a larger luxury passenger boat during a rainstorm on Wednesday evening, causing it to capsize and sink with 33 South Korean tourists and tour guides and two Hungarian crew aboard.

“I wouldn’t say there is no hope, rather that there is a minimal chance (of finding survivors),” Pal Gyorfi, a spokesman for the Hungarian national ambulance service, told the M1 state broadcaster.