Hungarian military and police conduct a search and rescue operation for victims of this week’s tourist boat sinking in the Hungarian capital of Budapest on May 31, 2019. (Yonhap)
SEOUL/BUDAPEST, May 31 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 40 family members of South Korean victims of the deadly boat sinking in Hungary headed to the eastern European country Friday to receive updates on rescue efforts.
Ten family members left first for Hungary at around 1 a.m. Friday, followed by the departure of others.
They kept mum when asked by reporters about how they feel at the Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul.
“I don’t know what to say. Please have a good meal and a safe trip,” a man said, seeing off a family member.
Seven South Koreans died and 19 others went missing after a tourist boat carrying them capsized in a Budapest river on Wednesday night (local time).
The accident occurred amid heavy rain when a larger cruise vessel collided with the boat carrying a total of 33 Koreans and two Hungarian crew members in the Danube River in downtown.
“Some family members heard about the tragedy belatedly as they were at school or work. They are in a state of shock,” said an official at the tour agency, Verygoodtour, which organized the trip.
Most of the victims, aged between 40-50, came as families on the package tour. A list of the travelers includes a six-year-old girl.
Rescue operations are under way, but have faced setbacks amid strong currents and high waters. No additional survivors have yet been found.
Of the dead, two have been identified as they carried identification cards. The five others have yet to be identified.
Flowers and candles placed by mourners in Hungary on May 30, 2019 to express condolences to the victims of the sinking of a boat carrying 33 South Korean tourists and two Hungarian crew members in Budapest a day earlier. (Yonhap)
Mourners expressed their condolences to the victims by putting flowers and candles on a riverside near a bridge close to the accident site.
Condolence flowers were placed near the exit of the South Korean Embassy in Budapest.
Meanwhile, South Korean provincial governments are canceling or delaying planned festivals or other celebratory events to mourn the victims. Or, they are planning to scale down events.
The authorities began to conduct safety checks on facilities, including cruise ships and cable cars, to prevent accidents.
Cruise operators strengthened instructions for passengers to use life vests.
South Koreans are sensitive to maritime accidents, with the traumatic experience of the 2014 deadly sinking of the Sewol ferry.
It left 304 passengers dead, most of them teenage students on a school trip amid lingering controversies over whether the government played a timely and responsible role in rescue operations.
(Yonhap)
