Ship collision – Hableány wreck may hold more victims

The salvaged wreck of the Hableány pleasure boat may still hold more victims, the head of Hungary’s counter-terrorism force TEK, which handled the salvage operation, told a press conference on Wednesday.

The Hableány was lifted from the Danube on Tuesday afternoon. During the salvage operation, the bodies of four victims were found. Four further victims are still missing. The wreck was taken to the Csepel port in the south of the city to undergo further examination.

The Hableány will be searched for the remaining bodies by the police, Janos Hajdu said.

He said the wreck had a thick layer of river mud inside it which could still hold more bodies.

However, if no more victims are found, it is likely they fell out of the boat at the time of the collision, Hajdú said, adding that the interior ministry has doubled its search efforts along the Danube.

He thanked every organisation that had taken part in and contributed to the recovery and salvage operations over the past 13 days. He also expressed his gratitude to the Austrian, Czech, Norwegian and German organisations that assisted the operations as well as the South Korean divers and consultants. Hajdú also hailed the “objective and fair press coverage” of the disaster and its aftermath.

With the Hableány lifted from the Danube, he said, TEK’s work in connection with the disaster is finished and the case will now be taken over by the Budapest Police Headquarters.

Song Sun-geun, South Korea’s defence attache accredited to Budapest, said every effort will be made to find those still missing after the disaster.