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Safety warnings not taken into account before fatal ship collision
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There had been warnings about the traffic on the river Danube around Hungary’s capital and how it could possibly be dangerous; however, the government chose not to take it into account and did nothing to reduce the number of boats.
The Hungarian tourism agency has told a journalist from The New York Times that “there are several indications that human error was responsible.” However, the famous news outlet suggests that there could have been more that played into the tragedy.
On the evening of May 29, two ships collided on the Danube in Budapest. The accident was very much fatal, killing several South Korean tourists on the smaller boat that sank, called Hableány.
Read the first news about the accident HERE.
The tragedy has raised many concerns, mainly about the safety policies, as it seems that making as much profit as possible has outweighed the importance of providing a safe service. Fidesz controls both the city and the national government, which are in charge of granting access to the docks and giving permits to vessels, respectively. This means that either/or could have prevented the collision from happening by installing stricter regulations.
The previous mayor of the capital stated: “city officials were warned about the dangers of too much traffic, but they failed to act. It is a very profitable business.”
The captain of the other ship, the Viking Sigyn, was involved in another accident in April, which took place in the Netherlands. He was arrested on suspicion of negligence, as two accidents within just a two-month time frame are very unsettling, and raise the question: how was he allowed control of one of the biggest boats of the company?
Hableány, the sunken ship, was lifted out of the river by crane on Tuesday, after many complications due to water levels. Some of the victims have still not been found, although many have been recovered from the wreck and the river. Only seven people who were on the boat that night survived out of 35.