VIDEO: Captain of cruise ship in deadly Danube collision gets bail

Arirang News

The captain of the Viking River Cruises ship involved in a deadly collision that sank a River Danube sightseeing boat in central Budapest on May 29 can be released on bail, a court ruled yesterday.

Bail was set at 15 million Hungarian forints (about $53,000). The 64-year-old Ukrainian captain must remain in Budapest and appear in person before the authorities investigating the collision twice a week.

The sightseeing boat, the Hableány (Mermaid), had been carrying 26 South Korean tourists when it sank.

The wreck was lifted from the River Danube and placed on a barge Tuesday.

South Korean broadcaster Arirang reports that during the six hour-long salvage operation, Hungarian authorities were able to retrieve four more bodies of South Korean passengers, including a child. That brought the death toll to 24 with four people still missing.

According to Arirang, in addition to continuing investigation of the tour boat wreck, police have carried out another search inside the Viking Sigyn , the cruise ship that hit the tourist boat, to obtain additional evidence.