Ship collision – Rescue operation fast, professional, says Hungarian interior minister

The rescue efforts after last week’s ship collision on the Danube were swift and professional, Interior Minister Sándor Pintér told parliament’s national security committee on Tuesday.

Within half an hour after a river cruiser and a sight-seeing boat collided near the Parliament building in Budapest and the smaller boat sank, the rescue operation was taken over by high-ranking officers of the police and the disaster management authority, he told the committee hearing.

Speaking to the press after the hearing, Pintér said

the Hungarian authorities were cooperating well with the South Korean government, embassy and divers.

Pintér said the South Korean experts “have accepted the Hungarians’ arguments” on the dangers of entering the wreck, which is located near Margaret Bridge, under high waters with extremely swift currents. Visibility is still close to zero, he said, adding that entering the wreck may prove extremely dangerous.