South Korean President Bows to Boat Tragedy Victims

The President of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in, who arrived in Hungary on Tuesday for an official visit, paid a tribute to the victims of the Hableány (Mermaid) cruise ship disaster at the Budapest memorial of the 2019 tragedy.

The South Korean head of state was received by Hungarian Finance Minister Mihály Varga at the granite block on the Pest end of the Margaret Bridge, where the names of the victims are engraved, and they paid tribute to the victims.

A group of South Koreans visiting Hungary also attended the memorial and enthusiastically greeted President Moon Jae-in and his wife, who accompanied him.

The small cruise ship sank on May 29, 2019 near the Margaret Bridge in Budapest after colliding with the Viking Sigyn hotel ship. The Hableány was carrying 35 passengers, 33 South Korean tourists and the two-member Hungarian crew. Seven tourists were rescued, the bodies of 27 victims have been recovered and one South Korean passenger is still missing.

In the case, the prosecutor's office holds the Ukrainian captain of the hotel ship Viking Sigyn responsible for the tragedy. He was charged in November 2019 by the prosecutor's office with the offences of reckless endangerment of water transport causing a fatal public accident and failure to render assistance.