Korean Politician Lays a Wreath at the Mermaid Memorial

Kim Jin Phyo, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and László Kövér, Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly lay a wreath at the Mermaid shipwreck memorial at the Pest end of the Margaret Bridge, paying 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 [‘Mermaid’] 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.

The 65-year-old Ukrainian captain of the hotel ship Viking Sigyn was 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.