At least seven people were killed and nearly 20 were missing after a pleasure boat carrying South Korean tourists capsized on the flooding Danube in the Hungarian capital on Wednesday, police and ambulance officials said.
The boat reportedly collided with another tourist vessel near the Hungarian parliament building, before turning over on the river, which has been flooding, with very strong currents, while a rainstorm enveloped Budapest.
In Seoul, the foreign ministry said the vessel sank with 33 South Korean tourists and a crew of two Hungarians aboard, adding that seven of the tourists were rescued but seven died, and 19 were missing.
An emergency rescue team is among the 18 officials South Korea plans to send to Budapest, the ministry said in a statement, and it will offer counselling to victims’ families.
A Hungarian ambulance spokesman told state television that 14 people were pulled from the water. Seven have died, with the rest suffering from hypothermia but stable.
A massive rescue effort deployed boats, divers, spotlights, and radar scanning to scour the river for several kilometres downstream from the accident site.
Boat carrying South Korean tourists capsized after collision on flooding Danube in Hungaria
