3rd Anniversary of the Danube Tourist Boat Tragedy

A memorial service was held on the third anniversary of the tragedy of the Hableány (‘Mermaid’)  river cruise boat on Sunday in Budapest, at the memorial to the victims of the disaster at the Pest end of Margaret Bridge, where Péter András Sztáray, Minister of State for Security Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Park Chul Min, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Budapest, laid a wreath and paid tribute to the South Korean and Hungarian victims of the tragedy.

On May 29, 2019, the hotel ship Viking Sigyn collided with and crushed the tourist boat Hableány on the river Danube near Margaret Bridge in Budapest. The boat sank with 35 people on board: 33 South Korean tourists and the Hungarian crew of two. Seven tourists were rescued from the Danube, the bodies of 27 victims were recovered and one South Korean passenger is still missing.

Ambassador Chul Min Park stressed in his speech that although three years had passed since the tragedy, the pain of the family members remained and the wounds had not healed. "Three years have passed since the accident and the only thing left is to bring to justice those responsible for the accident, so that the victims can find eternal peace and comfort for their families as soon as possible," the Ambassador said, expressing hope that the court cases would be concluded next year. 

The 65-year-old Ukrainian captain of the hotel ship Viking Sigyn is charged with reckless endangerment of waterway transport, causing a fatal public accident, and failure to render assistance. A preliminary hearing in the case was held in March 2020, at which the accused said he would not waive his right to stand trial. Since then, Korean survivors have been remotely heard on several occasions.