Search under way for 3 men, 2 women after boat accident on Danube

Police were called to the scene when a disorientated man was discovered with a bleeding head near the main road in Veroce. After questioning, they concluded the man was the victim of a boat accident.

Police and search and rescue staff immediately began searching the area using drones and river craft.

Soon after a man’s body was found on the river bank south of Veroce, while hours later a woman’s body was at Megyeri Bridge on the Danube alongside a damaged small motor boat.

Meanwhile, a damaged cruise ship was stopped upriver at Komarom and police have mounted an inspection of the cruise ship and the boat.

Criminal proceedings are under way in connection with an unidentified perpetrator on suspicion of endangering river safety and causing the death of several people.

Altogether, eight adults were on the motor boat, with three men and two women currently missing.

Police said on its website on Sunday afternoon that the search was still ongoing for the missing people with the help of 95 search and rescuers and 25 boats. A police helicopter, staff of the Pest County Search and Rescue Service, and volunteers of rescue organisations are also involved. The operation is being coordinated from the Danube river police headquarters in Kopaszi peninsula in southern Budapest. Police has requested members of the public to report any information they might have by calling 112.

Public channel M1 said the cruise ship stopped at Komarom had damage at the front, probably caused by the collision last night. The boat named Heidelberg is 110 metres long, operates with a crew of 35 and has a capacity for 110 guests. Police has been interviewing the tourists travelling on the boat, the channel said.