Cruise ship captain charged in deadly Danube River collision

Hungarian prosecutors say they have charged the captain of a cruise ship involved in a May 2019 collision on the Danube River in which 28 people were killed

Hungarian prosecutors say they have charged the captain of a cruise ship involved in a May 2019 collision on the Danube River in which 28 people were killed.

Prosecutors in the capital Budapest on Thursday charged the 64-year old Ukrainian captain of the Viking Sigyn with negligent endangerment of water traffic leading to a fatal mass catastrophe, and 35 counts of failing to give assistance.

Prosecutors asked a court to convict the captain and sentence him to nine years in prison if he pleads guilty and renounces a trial.

Only seven of the 33 South Korean tourists aboard the Hableany (Mermaid) sightseeing boat survived the nighttime collision. The boat’s two-man crew was also killed. The remains of one of the tourists has yet to be recovered.