Captain In Deadly River Cruise Boat Crash Also Involved in Ship Crash Earlier This Year

The official death toll from last week’s river cruise boat crash in Budapest, Hungary has risen from 7 to 17, as news outlets report that the ship’s captain was involved in a different crash earlier this year.

On Thursday, Budapest’s Chief Prosecution Office said that the Ukranian captain of the Viking Sigyn was involved in a maritime crash in the Netherlands on April 1, 2019, just under two months before the Budapest tragedy. USAToday.com reports that the collision was between the ship captained by Yuriy C., which was carrying 137 passengers and 43 crew,  and a chemical tanker. Quoting a government website, the report indicates that “a number of passengers were slightly injured” in the incident, “and the damage to both ships was considerable.”

The news of the earlier collision comes as the official death toll from May 29th’s crash rose to 17. In the hours following the incident authorities announced that 7 people had been rescued and 7 had been killed. 21 were reported missing. 

With the latest announcement, 11 people remain missing. The missing include 9 South Korean tourists and the two Hungarian crew members of the ship that was struck by the Sigyn

As authorities continue to search for the remaining victims, Yuriy C. remains in Hungarian custody. The 64-year-old captain is being held for an initial period of 30 days, while prosecutors appeal his bail, which is  the equivalent of $52,770.