by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:22 AM ET, Thu May 30, 2019
Update: May 31, 2019 at 8:20 a.m. ET
The search for survivors from the boating accident Wednesday along Budapest's Danube River continues, but the hopes of finding the 21 people still missing are fading fast.
According to ABCNews.com, the small tourist vessel was called the Hableany, which means Mermaid, and was carrying 33 South Korean tourists and two Hungarian crew members when it was struck by the luxury river cruise liner, the Viking Sigyn.
Witnesses claim the Mermaid sunk just seven seconds after being struck by the Viking Sigyn, and the river cruise vessel and its crew reportedly failed to stop after the accident and offered no assistance to the victims.
Local police arrested the 64-year-old Ukrainian captain of the Viking Sigyn, identified only as Yuriy C. Investigators also found the wreckage of the Hableany on the riverbed near the Margaret Bridge.
Search teams have expanded the hunt for victims to 20 miles downstream, as the heavy flooding has caused water in the river to move around seven miles per hour. One victim's body was found seven miles downstream just under three hours after the collision.
At least seven tourists are dead and another 21 were still missing after a vessel carrying South Korean travelers, tour guides and crew members was struck by another boat and capsized Wednesday night on the Danube River in Budapest.
According to the South China Morning Post, a pleasure boat called The Mermaid was hit by another tourist vessel near the Hungarian parliament building, causing the boat carrying 33 tourists, two guides, a photographer and the ship's captain to sink.
Despite the torrential rainstorm that caused the Danube River to flood with strong currents, local rescue teams saved at least seven people following the accident, and officials continued the search throughout the night.
A witness on the scene told reporters the passengers on The Mermaid were not wearing life jackets at the time of the incident. The South Korean tour agency, Very Good Tour, revealed that most of the tourists were traveling with family members.
The group was on a 13-day package tour through eastern Europe and the Balkan states.
The Mermaid was an 89-feet-long double-decker river cruise boat which could hold up to 60 people. It was one of the many types of ships that sail the river daily, including small sightseeing boats and larger river cruise vessels.
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