Jump to content

Hableány disaster

Coordinates: 47°30′50″N 19°02′42″E / 47.51389°N 19.04500°E / 47.51389; 19.04500
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Scottfk (talk | contribs) at 12:33, 5 June 2019 (Changed the pronoun for the ships from neutral to feminine. Both are acceptable MOS:GNL, but feminine just sounds better for a ship to my native-speaker ear.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Sinking of Hableány
Hableány seen in April 2017
Date29 May 2019; 5 years ago (2019-05-29)
Time21:05 CEST (UTC+2)
LocationDanube, Budapest, Hungary
Coordinates47°30′50″N 19°02′42″E / 47.51389°N 19.04500°E / 47.51389; 19.04500
CauseCollision with another vessel
Deaths11[1]
Missing17
Survivors7
Location of collision in Budapest:
Collision site is located in Budapest
Collision site
Collision site

Hableány ([ˈhɒblɛaːɲ]; Hungarian for 'Mermaid') was a 27-metre (89 ft) river cruiser operated by Panorama Deck on the Danube river in Budapest, Hungary. She had two decks and a capacity of 45 people when operating as a sightseeing vessel.[2] On the evening of 29 May 2019, the ship was travelling on the Danube in Budapest with 35 people on board when a much larger ship, the 135-metre (443 ft) Viking Sigyn, collided with Hableány under the Margaret Bridge near the Parliament Building.[3]

All of the tourists onboard were from South Korea, with the majority on a planned tour by a South Korean company.[3] Seven survivors were rescued at the scene. Eleven victims have been found dead, while 15 passengers and two Hungarian crew members remain missing.[1][4][5][6]

Vessels

Hableány was a 27-metre (89 ft) river cruise boat with two open decks and a capacity of 45 passengers for sightseeing and 60 passengers for other configurations. She was built in the Soviet Union in 1949 and had her engine replaced in 1980 by a Hungarian company.[7] She was acquired by Panorama Deck in 2003 and had been used for regular cruises on the Danube since then.[8]

Viking Sigyn is a 135-metre (443 ft) hotelship operated by Swiss-based Viking River Cruises.[5] She has four decks with 95 rooms and can carry 190 passengers.[9] The ship was officially named in March 2019 and placed on the company's Danube services.[10]

Incident

Viking Sigyn, operated by Viking Cruises, seen a day after the collision

At approximately 21:05 local time on 29 May 2019, Hableány was clipped from behind by Viking Sigyn while crossing under the Margaret Bridge near the Parliament Building on a 457-metre-wide (500 yd) section of the Danube. Hableány had 35 people on board at the time of the collision, including the Hungarian captain and crewman, two South Korean tour guides, and 31 South Korean tourists ranging in age from 6 to 72.[11] The tourists were on a two-week excursion of eastern Europe organized by the Seoul-based Very Good Tour company.[7]

Following a review of CCTV footage from a nearby vantage point, state police stated that Hableány had tipped on her side while under the Margaret Bridge.[11] The vessel had been moving towards the riverbank to prepare for disembarking and steered slightly left into the path of Viking Sigyn, which had been traveling parallel to Hableány.[12] The rescued passengers had not been wearing life vests, while another South Korean tourist said that cruise boats arranged by tour companies often lacked them.[7] All seven of the rescued survivors had been thrown from the upper observation deck.[13]

Rescue and recovery efforts

Search operations under the Margaret Bridge

Police and ambulance services arrived at the collision site approximately ten minutes later at 21:15, shortly after being notified of an overturned boat.[4] Search and rescue efforts began immediately, with several spotlights brought to the site and over 200 divers and medical personnel arriving within hours. Search and rescue efforts were complicated by the high water level of the Danube, which had swelled significantly due to several days of heavy rainfall, by high winds and by water temperatures of 10 to 12 °C (50 to 54 °F).[4][11] The fast-moving water, reaching speeds of 9 to 11 kilometres per hour (5.6 to 6.8 mph), caused limited visibility underwater and prevented divers from searching inside the wreckage of Hableány to recover more bodies.[12][14]

Seven of the South Korean tourists were rescued from the water and taken to local hospitals where they were treated for hypothermia and shock.[2] Most were later released.[2] Seven bodies were also pulled from the river, which were identified using finger and palm prints;[15] 19 tourists and the two crewmembers remain missing.[16] Several of the rescued passengers were found further downstream, including one at the Petőfi Bridge approximately 3 kilometres (2 mi) south;[4] one of the recovered bodies was found 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) downstream almost 2.5 hours after the collision.[12]

The first major diving operation began five days after the collision and ended with the discovery of an eighth body that was recovered by Korean divers. Janos Hajdu, the head of the government agency coordinating the search and rescue efforts told reports that the divers will do everything in their power to search for bodies and survivors but entering the wreckage was forbidden, as they had deemed it life-threatening.[17] Another body was found on the same day in Harta, 110 kilometres (68 mi) downstream from Budapest, by local police.[18]

In the morning of the sixth day, the body recovered from the wreck one day prior, was identified by the police as a Korean woman, making her the ninth known victim of the accident. Afternoon after a six-hour-long diving operation, the tenth victim was raised from the ship.[19] Police also reported that they have found and identified the eleventh passenger at the town of Kulcs.[1][20]

Response and investigation

South Korean President Moon Jae-in convened an emergency meeting and directed the government to send emergency rescue workers to aid the Hungarian effort, including several rescue experts who had worked on the Sewol disaster in 2014.[8][11] President Moon spoke to Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán about the situation by telephone, thanking him for his country's efforts while Orbán pledged full cooperation and support.[16] South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha travelled to Budapest and will visit the survivors along with relatives of passengers on the tour.[14]

Hungarian police also launched a criminal investigation into the collision. The captain of Viking Sigyn, a 64-year-old Ukrainian, was interviewed and later arrested the following day on suspicion of causing a mass-casualty incident while operating a boat.[21] On May 31 the Ministry of Interior announced that attempts to lift and recover Hableány during the first two days had been unsuccessful and that it was seeking new ways to search the lower deck for trapped passengers.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c Kovács, Dávid (4 June 2019). "Kulcsnál találták meg a Hableány-tragédia legújabb áldozatát" [Latest victim of the Hableány disaster found at Kulcs]. index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 4 June 2019. A further victim of the tragedy of the Mermaid cruise ship on Wednesday, this time at Kulcs in Fejér County, writes Police.hu. This is the eleventh found body
  2. ^ a b c "Hungary: Seven dead and many missing after boat capsizes in Budapest". BBC News. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b "7 South Koreans dead, 19 missing after tourist boat sinks in Hungary". CNN. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Novak, Benjamin (29 May 2019). "Boat Sinks in Danube, Killing at Least 7 on Tour of Budapest". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  5. ^ a b Dunai, Marton (29 May 2019). "Seven South Korean tourists killed, 19 missing after Hungarian boat capsizes on Danube". Reuters. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Újabb holttestet hoztak fel az elsüllyedt hajóból". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Park Chan-kyong (30 May 2019). "'No life jackets': 7 South Korean tourists dead, 21 missing in Hungary pleasure boat tragedy". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  8. ^ a b Saling, Gergo; Denyer, Simon (30 May 2019). "Rescuers scour waters for survivors after Danube boat disaster leaves 7 dead, 21 missing". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Hopes of finding missing South Koreans fade after Budapest boat tragedy". Agence France-Presse. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Viking Expands European River Fleet With Launch Of Seven New Ships" (Press release). Viking Cruises. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019 – via PR Newswire.
  11. ^ a b c d Novak, Benjamin; Santora, Marc; Choe Sang-hun (30 May 2019). "After Budapest Boat Crash, Fading Hope for Survivors and a Criminal Inquiry". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  12. ^ a b c "Budapest boat crash leaves 7 South Korean tourists dead; cruise ship captain detained". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Dunai hajókatasztrófa - sajtótájékoztató" [Danube ship disaster press conference] (in Hungarian). Hír TV. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  14. ^ a b "Hungary boat crash: Captain of vessel involved in collision arrested". BBC News. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  15. ^ "Captain charged over Budapest boat tragedy, S Koreans identified". Al Jazeera. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  16. ^ a b Kim Seung-yeon (30 May 2019). "7 South Koreans killed, 19 missing in Hungary boat sinking". Yonhap. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  17. ^ Gorondi, Pablo (3 June 2019). "Hungary: Death toll from Danube boat collision reaches 9". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 June 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  18. ^ "Hungarian boat tragedy: two more bodies recovered as South Korean divers join search for missing tourists". South China Morning Post. Agence France-Presse. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  19. ^ TEG (4 June 2019). "Újabb holttestet hoztak fel az elsüllyedt hajóból". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  20. ^ "Azonosították a hajóbaleset újabb áldozatát / Another victim of the ship accident identified". www.police.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  21. ^ "Őrizetbe vették a szállodahajó kapitányát". hirado.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  22. ^ Novak, Benjamin; Karasz, Palko (31 May 2019). "Flooded Danube Hampers Rescuers After Budapest Boat Accident". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2019.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hableány_disaster&oldid=900400854"