3 additional victims found on Danube, bringing official death toll to 11
- 5 years ago
We start with some breaking news from Hungary, scene of last week's tragic boat sinking.
One more body has just been recovered by the search and rescue team in Hungary. That's on top of two others found overnight.
Our Oh Sooyoung is on the line for us.
Sooyoung, it's been nearly a week since the fatal collision and sinking of a tour boat on the Danube River.
We are waking up to more sad news this morning.
Well, Connyoung, authorities announced about an hour ago that another victim presumed to be that of a Korean national in their 20s has been discovered on the Danube around 50 kilometers downstream from the accident site -- we are awiting more information though... as the news has just come out.
But earlier on Tuesday,... rescue and recovery teams discovered two more bodies.
One of the victims,... confirmed to be a Korean man,... was found 55 kilometers south of the site of the accident by a helicopter seach team.
The other victim,... presumed to be Korean,... was found by Hungarian divers among the wreckage,... a couple of hours later,... stuck in one of the glass windows of the capsized tourist ship.
The official death toll now stands at eleven.
Seoul's Deputy Minister for Overseas Korean and Consular Affairs said authorities have identified nine of the deceased victims who had been discovered as of Monday.
"The South Korea-Hungary joint identification team finished identifying the bodies at dawn. The method of identification involves taking fingerprints from the two bodies and comparing them with the 'original prints' taken from South Korea's National Police Agency. The bodies have been identified as South Koreans as their fingerprints matched the original prints."
Lee said the victims' families are being consulted for funeral procedures,... and their bodies are likely to be returned to Korea within the week.
That still leaves 16 people - South Korean and Hungarian - unaccounted for.
Authorities are aiming to lift the tour boat, the Hableany, as soon as possible.
Do we know when the salvage operations will start?
Well, South Korean officials in Budapest said Tuesday that they agreed with Hungarian authorities that they'd start working on lifting the boat from Wednesday.
The Korean Embassy's Defense Attache Song Shun-keun said the Korean search team will participate in diving operations to help secure chains around the wreckage.
He said efforts to salvage the vessel are expected as early as Thursday, once a huge floating crane is delivered.
The crane can lift up to 200 tons,... and authorities expect the wreckage to weigh roughly half that.
However, there are concerns the crane may take more time to reach the site of the accident,... due to the Danube's high water levels which could make it difficult to pass under bridges on the way to Budapest.
So we'll have to wait and see how the river conditions are but I'll be bringing you more updates of course.
Back to you, Connyoung.
One more body has just been recovered by the search and rescue team in Hungary. That's on top of two others found overnight.
Our Oh Sooyoung is on the line for us.
Sooyoung, it's been nearly a week since the fatal collision and sinking of a tour boat on the Danube River.
We are waking up to more sad news this morning.
Well, Connyoung, authorities announced about an hour ago that another victim presumed to be that of a Korean national in their 20s has been discovered on the Danube around 50 kilometers downstream from the accident site -- we are awiting more information though... as the news has just come out.
But earlier on Tuesday,... rescue and recovery teams discovered two more bodies.
One of the victims,... confirmed to be a Korean man,... was found 55 kilometers south of the site of the accident by a helicopter seach team.
The other victim,... presumed to be Korean,... was found by Hungarian divers among the wreckage,... a couple of hours later,... stuck in one of the glass windows of the capsized tourist ship.
The official death toll now stands at eleven.
Seoul's Deputy Minister for Overseas Korean and Consular Affairs said authorities have identified nine of the deceased victims who had been discovered as of Monday.
"The South Korea-Hungary joint identification team finished identifying the bodies at dawn. The method of identification involves taking fingerprints from the two bodies and comparing them with the 'original prints' taken from South Korea's National Police Agency. The bodies have been identified as South Koreans as their fingerprints matched the original prints."
Lee said the victims' families are being consulted for funeral procedures,... and their bodies are likely to be returned to Korea within the week.
That still leaves 16 people - South Korean and Hungarian - unaccounted for.
Authorities are aiming to lift the tour boat, the Hableany, as soon as possible.
Do we know when the salvage operations will start?
Well, South Korean officials in Budapest said Tuesday that they agreed with Hungarian authorities that they'd start working on lifting the boat from Wednesday.
The Korean Embassy's Defense Attache Song Shun-keun said the Korean search team will participate in diving operations to help secure chains around the wreckage.
He said efforts to salvage the vessel are expected as early as Thursday, once a huge floating crane is delivered.
The crane can lift up to 200 tons,... and authorities expect the wreckage to weigh roughly half that.
However, there are concerns the crane may take more time to reach the site of the accident,... due to the Danube's high water levels which could make it difficult to pass under bridges on the way to Budapest.
So we'll have to wait and see how the river conditions are but I'll be bringing you more updates of course.
Back to you, Connyoung.