Two people dies in a boating accident on Saturday night on the Danube near the Danube Bend settlement of Verőce. Three men and two women are still missing, as reported by the Budapest Police (BRFK) on their website on Sunday morning. A small motorboat collided with a hotel boat, the MS Heidelberg.
According to the BRFK, a report was received on Saturday night about a man with a bleeding head found near Verőce, who was difficult to communicate with. The police arrived at the scene, interviewed the injured man, an Italian national, and concluded that he was a victim of a boating accident. Police, along with disaster management and the Pest County Search and Rescue Service, immediately began searching the area using drones. The search was conducted both on water and land simultaneously. Shortly after, the body of a man was found on the Danube shore south of Verőce, followed by the body of a woman found hours later near the Megyeri Bridge on the Danube. A damaged small motorboat was also found. The police determined that a hotel boat was in the area at the time of the accident. The boat was stopped in Komárom.
Eight adults were on the motorboat, five of whom—three men and two women—are still being searched for. According to the latest media reports, the victims were all friends and relatives, who are most likely headed to one party from another, with their final destination being Vác. The ongoing investigation involves IT and water rescue experts. The aim is to determine if anyone is criminally responsible for the accident.
The captain of the hotel boat was questioned as a suspect and detained on Monday for failing to provide assistance. According to the police website, the Budapest Police initiated a criminal investigation to clarify the circumstances of the motorboat tragedy. The police inspected both the motorboat and the hotel boat. The captain of the hotel boat was questioned as a suspect for two counts of failing to provide assistance resulting in death and six counts of failing to provide assistance. The suspicion is that the captain did not alert his crew after the collision, did not follow rescue protocols, took no action to rescue those in need, and did not stop the boat. He was detained but did not make a substantial statement regarding the accusations. The circumstances of the incident are still being investigated. So far, 25 witnesses have been interviewed, including crew members of the hotel boat, passengers, and external witnesses.
According to the spokesman for the Hungarian National Shipping Association (Mahosz), Mihály Tóth, speaking on the M1 news channel on Monday, the type of motorboat involved suggests it was capable of high speeds and likely collided at high speed, judging by the wreckage. Tóth noted that hobby boats are not required to have recording systems and generally do not use them. Experts will likely have to infer from the wreckage how the boat maneuverer and at what speed it was travelling. The boat, with an engine seemingly around 190 horsepower, was capable of high speed, and the wreckage indicates it collided with something at high speed. Asked about the frequency of boating accidents on the Hungarian section of the Danube, Tóth said they are rare, as they can be prevented by adhering to regulations. However, the increasing number of hobby boats raises the risk of accidents, especially among those unfamiliar with night navigation or not fully compliant with boating regulations. He suggested that the fact that the hotel boat was following its prescribed route indicates that its captain may not have noticed the collision.
The search for the missing motorboat passengers continues.
Related articles:
