Captain of Vessel in Danube Boat Collision Had Previous Accident in April -Prosecutors

Update: Viking Cruises Says Viking Sigyn Captain Was Not Captain in Dutch Accident

By Marton Dunai BUDAPEST, June 6 (Reuters)– The captain of a cruise ship lining associated with a deadly crash with an enjoyment watercraft on the River Danube in Budapest recently had actually captained a watercraft that remained in a mishap in the Netherlands in April, Hungarian district attorneys claimed onThursday

It is uncertain what triggered the most awful mishap in over half a century on the Danube, Europe’s lengthiest river as well as a progressively preferred path for enormous resort cruisers. Police are exploring.

The Viking Sigyn’s captain, a 64-year-old Ukrainian male recognized by authorities as C. Yuriy from Odessa, was apprehended recently in Budapest as well as is being held as a suspect. His attorneys claimed he is ruined yet not did anything incorrect. They can not be grabbed remark.

The district attorneys likewise claimed in a declaration that the captain had “deleted data from his phone” after the crash on May 29, which eliminated 28 individuals, the majority of them South Korean visitors.

They claimed it was uncertain whether the information was connected to the mishap.

The Mermaid, lugging South Koreans on an enjoyment cruise ship, tipped over as well as sank after being struck by the bigger Viking Sigyn.

Hungarian district attorneys claimed they had actually discovered via an EU judicial network that the captain was likewise captain of a watercraft that remained in a mishap in the Netherlands on April 1.

Media records claimed that in the occurrence described the Viking Idun which hit a freight vessel while cruising from Antwerp toGhent According to a Viking declaration pointed out in media no one on the Idun was harmed.

Swiss- based Viking Cruises Ltd, which has the Viking Sigyn in addition to the Viking Idun, claimed recently it was accepting Hungarian private investigators as well as can not comment while a criminal instance was in progress.

Viking spokespeople did not quickly respond to Reuters concerns looking for fresh remark. The driver of The Mermaid has actually not replied to ask for talk about the mishap.

Seven Koreans were saved active. Seventeen bodies have actually been recuperated as well as 11 individuals are formally provided as missing out on as well as assumed dead, consisting of a Korean kid as well as 2 Hungarian team.

BODIES RECOGNIZED

News internet siteAtlatszo hu claimed authorities have actually talked to near to 300 witnesses as well as assessed 40 CCTV recordings. Police spokesperson Kristof Gal claimed that was a probable estimate, without verifying the exact numbers.

The Budapest catastrophe took place in hefty rainfall. In the week given that, swamping on the river has actually declined, permitting scuba divers to get to the wreckage as well as recuperate several of the bodies. Corpses have actually likewise started to appear at the wreckage website as well as additional downstream.

South Korea’s technique of fingerprinting all grown-up residents has actually assisted forensic specialists recognize every one of the bodies recuperated thus far, authorities claimed on Thursday.

Police lieutenant-colonel Zsuzsanna Kreitz claimed that in such crashes, remains are harmed as well as recognition via photos as well as ID cards comes to be difficult. “We use fingerprints, DNA and dental records instead,” she claimed.

Work remained to restore the ship asap, claimed Nandor Jasenszky, spokesperson of the counter-terrorism angency TEK, which collaborates the healing procedure.

Divers bonded hooks as well as placed poles under the sunken Mermaid, their job hindered by solid currents as well as absolutely no presence in the river. Once the equipment remains in area, a gigantic drifting salvage crane will certainly be made use of to raise the wreckage.

That can come as very early as Friday, Jasenszky claimed, including that the problems on the river continue to be unforeseeable so hold-ups are rather feasible– pointing out a massive item of timber particles that obtained captured up near the Mermaid on Thursday.

“You must be prepared for anything and everything on the Danube,” he claimed. “You can’t stick to plans down to the second.” (Additional coverage by Krisztina ThanEditing by Frances Kerry)