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Hungary’s Counter-Terrorism Center (TEK) held a special memorial ceremony on Saturday, on the occasion of the third anniversary of a deadly boat collision on the river Danube in 2019, which took the lives of a number of South Korean tourists.
Director-General of TEK János Hajdu laid a wreath at the memorial near the site of the tragedy, at the Pest end of Margaret Bridge, and then paid his respects to the victims together with his colleagues with their heads bowed.
János Hajdu, Director General of the Counter-Terrorism Center (TEK), lays a wreath at the memorial ceremony commemorating the third anniversary of a deadly boat collision on the Danube in 2019. The rescue of the cruise ship was coordinated by the TEK, and on June 11, 2019, after several hours of work, the ship was brought to the surface. Photo: Tibor Illyés/MTI
On May 29, 2019, the Viking Sigyn cruise ship collided with the Hableány sightseeing boat which had 33 South Korean tourists on board with a crew of two Hungarians. Seven tourists were rescued from the water after the collision, however, the rest of the passengers lost their lives. The two Hungarian crew members also died in the accident. The youngest passenger was only six years old, the oldest 71. One of the bodies has not been recovered, and is still missing. The sunk wreckage could only be lifted from the water by using a floating crane. The preparations were coordinated by TEK, and the recovery operation was completed after seven hours of carefully coordinated work.
Diver Training Tank Inaugurated
On the occasion of the anniversary of the deadly boat collision, Hungary’s first ever diver training tank was also inaugurated in Baja, in the south of Hungary, on Friday.
A diver lays a wreath on the Danube during a memorial ceremony in Baja on June 10, 2022, in commemoration of the 2019 deadly boat collision on the Danube. The event marked the inauguration of a diver training tank, an initiative of the Havaria Disaster Management Public Benefit Association. Photo: Dániel Kiss/MTI
Róbert Zsigó, Baja’s Fidesz MP, said at the inauguration that the disaster bound two nations together. Park Chul-min, South Korea’s ambassador to Hungary, said May 29, 2019 had been “a moment of shock” which to this day could not be forgotten. At the same time, he expressed his thanks and gratitude to the divers who had done everything they could to save the victims at the scene of the disaster.
The diver training tank inaugurated in Baja, a city at the southern Hungarian section of the Danube, was built at the initiative of the Havaria Disaster Management Public Benefit Association.
Featured photo by Tibor Illyés/MTI