BUDAPEST. A suspected collision involving a small motor boat and a cruise ship on the Danube River, north of Budapest, has left two people dead and five others missing, Hungarian police reported.
The grim discovery began unfolding late on Saturday when the body of an adult man was found near the site of the incident. Subsequently, the body of a woman was recovered further downstream. As of Sunday, disaster response units were still searching for the five missing individuals, according to police statements.
Soma Csecsi, a spokesperson for the Budapest police, disclosed that eight adults were aboard the small motor boat at the time of the suspected collision. The incident came to light after police encountered a man with a bleeding head wound near the main road by the river near Veroce, located 55 km (34 miles) north of Budapest.
“Police talked to the man and from his initial communication they drew the conclusion that he was probably the victim of some kind of boat accident,” explained Csecsi.
The recovery efforts intensified as authorities retrieved the body of a man south of Veroce, while a woman’s body was found further downstream near a bridge on the northern outskirts of Budapest. Additionally, the damaged motor boat was recovered in the vicinity.
Csecsi noted, “At the time of the accident, a cruise ship was located in the area, which was stopped at the town of Komarom where police have determined that the ship is damaged on one side.”
Images circulated by Hungarian state media depicted a moored 109-meter-long cruise ship identified as Swiss-based Heidelberg. However, details regarding the number and nationality of individuals on board remained unclear.
Hungarian authorities have initiated a criminal investigation against an unknown perpetrator to ascertain the cause of the accident. Csecsi emphasized that the investigation aims to determine if anyone bears criminal liability for the incident.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
