Hungarian authorities are investigating a tragic collision on the Danube River north of Budapest that resulted in the deaths of two people and left five others missing. The incident, which occurred late on Saturday, involved a small motorboat and a cruise ship, according to Hungarian police.
The collision was first reported when police found a man with a bleeding head wound near a main road by the river in Veroce, approximately 55 kilometers north of Budapest. After speaking with the injured man, police concluded he was likely involved in a boat accident.
“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,” stated Budapest police spokesperson Soma Csecsi.
Disaster response units quickly mobilised to search for the missing individuals. On Sunday, authorities recovered the body of an adult man near Veroce and later found the body of a woman further downstream near a bridge on the northern outskirts of Budapest. The damaged motorboat was also located near this bridge.
The suspected collision occurred while eight adults were aboard the small motorboat. At the same time, a cruise ship was in the vicinity. The cruise ship, identified as the Swiss-based Heidelberg, was stopped in the town of Komarom, where police found it damaged on one side. The total number of people aboard the cruise ship and their nationalities remain unclear.
Hungarian state media broadcast images of the moored 109-meter-long Heidelberg ship at Komarom.
Authorities have launched a criminal investigation to determine the cause of the accident and whether anyone should be held criminally liable.
The search for the missing individuals continues as investigators work to piece together the events that led to this devastating collision on one of Europe’s major waterways.
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