Captain of second boat detained over Budapest river accident: police

Police and rescue boats are seen on the Danube river near the zone where the “Mermaid” sightseeing boat sank overnight after colliding with a larger vessel in pouring rain on May 30, 2019 in Budapest. – Hungarian police launched a criminal investigation into one of the country’s worst boat accidents that left at least seven South Korean tourists dead and 21 others missing. (Photo by FERENC ISZA / AFP)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AFP) — Hungarian police said Thursday they had detained the captain of a vessel that collided with another sightseeing boat on a busy stretch of the Danube river, resulting in the death of at least seven South Korean tourists with 21 others still missing.

“The Ukrainian captain of the cruise ship was questioned as a suspect by investigators in relation to ‘endangering waterborne traffic resulting in multiple deaths'”, police said in a statement.

“After being questioned, 64-year-old Yuriy C., a resident of Odessa, was detained and a request for his arrest has been made,” the statement added.

The suspect was the captain of the 135-meter four-storey Viking Sigyn “longship”, which collided with the 26-meter Mermaid at 21:05 local time (19:05 GMT) on Wednesday evening.

The Mermaid capsized in a matter of seconds after the collision.

Those missing include two Hungarian crew members.

Seven people were rescued after the collision and taken to hospital.

On Thursday the police launched a criminal investigation into the incident for “criminal negligence on public waterways”.