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Bodies Discovered as Hungarian Rescue Crews Raise Sunken Tourist Boat

VOA News

   Salvage crews in Budapest have begun slowly lifting the wreckage of a
   sightseeing boat that sank in the city's iconic Danube River after it
   collided with a much larger passenger cruise ship late last month,
   killing at least 20 people onboard.

   Divers fixed a wire harness underneath the Mermaid early Tuesday
   morning and attached it to a large floating crane to begin the long and
   painstaking recovery operation. After the ship was partially lifted out
   of the water, divers began searching for the eight people still missing
   from the May 29 disaster.

   Four bodies have been removed from the wreckage since the salvage
   operation began.

   Once the Mermaid is completely pulled out of the river, it will be
   placed on a barge and taken to a secure location where it will be
   examined by police as part of its investigation into the incident.

   The Mermaid sank almost immediately after it collided with a Viking
   cruise ship as both vessels passed under the Margit Bridge near the
   Hungarian Parliament.ã

   Of the 33 South Korean tourists and two Hungarian crew members onboard,
   only seven were rescued alive. Both crew members were also killed, with
   the body of one still missing.

   Hungarian police have arrested the Ukrainian captain of the Viking
   cruise ship on suspicion of "endangering waterborne traffic resulting
   in multiple deaths."

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