7 Koreans Dead, and 19 More Missing After Tour Boat Sinks in the Danube River
A horrible tragedy has occurred in Hungary:
South Korean and Hungarian workers carried out joint operations on Saturday to search for 21 missing victims of this week’s tourist boat sinking in Budapest, officials said, although high waters and strong currents remain tough challenges.
Yonhap
They conducted surface-level searches up to 50 kilometers down the Danube River from the site of Wednesday’s disaster that left seven Koreans dead and 21 people missing, including 19 Koreans.
The South Korean team, consisting of staff from the Navy and fire agency, was to search the river three times on the day with four boats provided by the Hungarian authorities.
In response to requests by South Korea and Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria have also been conducting search operations in parts of the Danube River.
You can read more at the link, but the ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has traveled to Hungary and the Ukranian boat captain that struck the tourist boat has been arrested.
Good lord. Koreans and water really don’t mix, do they.
Back when I was a university instructor, I encountered many students (mostly female) who had no idea how to swim. “You live on a peninsula!” I’d say, with sheepish laughter as the response. I doubt my attempt at shaming my students led to anyone taking swimming lessons.
“It’s only an island if you look at it from the water.”
~Chief Brody, Jaws.
The boat did not have life preservers, a safety precaution will become a requirement in Hungary. Agree learning to swim is important, but if injured, a person needs a life preserver. Also, probably most died from the impact from the cruise ship.